Lloyd clinches win for Cardiff against Edinburgh

Rugby World Cup

Cardiff (12) 20

Cons: Lloyd Pen: Lloyd Pen: Mulder, Adams, and Sebastian

Edinburgh (19) 19

Cardiff’s impressive home form continued in the Rugby World Cup (URC) as Ioan Lloyd kicked them to a dramatic one-point victory over Edinburgh.

Lewis Wells, Charlie Shiel, and Ewan Ashman scored five tries for the visitors in the first half, while Johan Mulder and Josh Adams kept Cardiff in the contest.

After the break, Javan Sebastian scored against his former side to make Cardiff closer, and Lloyd scored the winning penalty from the halfway line.

On his first start in Cardiff, the fly half’s player of the match performance was capped by it.

Edinburgh remained in the Welsh capital, filled with internationals, including skipper Magnus Bradbury, who was recalled to Scotland’s squad this week, even though they were without Scotland’s Duhan van der Merwe and Darcy Graham.

And it was the visitors at Arms Park that made it all the way to the end, crossing in the corner and some fans sat in their seats.

Cammy Scott was given a chance to kick in a perfectly weighted kick for Wells to go over with the initial damage from Wes Goosen’s break.

Taulupe Faletau’s dismissal in Cardiff was a further blow to Wales’ autumn internationals, with the number eight without a doubt causing concern.

However, they quickly regrouped when Taine Basham tore down the wing before finding Mulder in support after he was quickest to pounce on a loose ball.

Shiel took route one to the try line after a big carry from D’arcy Rae, and Edinburgh responded almost immediately after the restart.

After the break, Sebastian enjoyed scoring against his former team, the Scotland prop slashing his way past two defenders.

However, Lloyd’s careless maneuver kept Edinburgh within a slim lead of two points.

As the rain started to pour down on both teams, errors began to appear in the stands, and Adams was denied a second try shortly after the hour.

After Ben Thomas’ offload, he appeared certain to score, but Luke Crosby’s late intervention forced a knock-on.

Later, Adams stumbling off the field increased worries about Wales’ injuries.

Eight minutes from time, Thomas’ excellent work at the breakdown gave Cardiff another chance to take the lead.

For the first time in the match, Lloyd, who had missed two more straightforward attempts from the tee, confidently hit a 49-meter penalty.

We discussed a lot about going into the dark and just enjoying it, which is how I know the boys were very tired after all.

“Lineouts are definitely something we need to work on first,” said one person, “but ultimately you can’t coach the fighting spirit.”

Sean Everitt, head coach for Edinburgh, said: “I was let down by the second half.

We made numerous kicking errors, folded when the pressure was on, and perhaps weren’t being patient enough.

When you add up all three, it’s frustrating because, according to the statistics, we’ve had three away games, one home game, and three home games, and four of those three games have lost four points.

Hughes, Domachowski, Assiratti, Donnell, Lawrence, D Thomas, Davies, and Sheedy are the replacements.

Edinburgh: Goosen, McCann, O’Conor, Lang, Wells, Scott, Shiel, Schoeman, Ashman, Rae, Sykes, Gilchrist, McConnell, Richardson, and Bradbury (capt.).

Harrison, Venter, Hill, Hunter-Hill, Crosbie, McAlpine, Thompson, and Davidson are the replacements.

Andrew Brace (IRFU) as the referee

Referees’ assistants: Carwyn Sion and Craig Evans (WRU).