Cardiff Blues 12-13 Leicester (1500 BST)
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606: DEBATE
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By Mark Orlovac
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HALF-TIME Cardiff Blues 12-13 Leicester
38 mins: PENALTY Cardiff Blues 12-13 Leicester
The Tigers now turn the screw, Cardiff are offside near their own line and Dupuy
puts his side back in front again. What a ridiculous match this is.
36 mins: PENALTY Cardiff Blues 12-10 Leicester
You really can't take your eyes off this game for a minute. From the restart, Leicester are offside as Flood kicks the ball and after a bit of backchat, a penalty is given. Halfpenny
steps up and the ball creeps over the bar. Great kick.
34 mins: PENALTY Cardiff Blues 9-10 Leicester
Cardiff chase the kick superbly and Tigers wing Johne Murphy is caught in possession. Blair
claims the three points.
33 mins: The Tigers attack comes to an end after 21 phases when they give away a penalty. We haven't got time to find out what it was for as Martyn Williams taps and then hoofs the ball downfield.
31 mins: It's all Leicester now. Blues centre Jamie Roberts shows his strength to stop a rampaging Hamilton inside the 22 with a thumping hit.
28 mins: PENALTY Cardiff Blues 6-10 Leicester
The Blues stop the rot with a Halfpenny
penalty from just inside the Leicester half. They really needed that.
26 mins: PENALTY Cardiff Blues 3-10 Leicester
What a turnaround. Blues prop Faao Filise goes high on Tom Croft, although the tackle was not malicious, and Dupuy
increases Leicester's lead.
22 mins: TRY Cardiff Blues 3-7 Leicester
Flood draws in Blair and Jamie Roberts and releases Scott Hamilton
for the game's first try with a sublime off-load out of the back of his hand. Dupuy kicks the conversion from in front of the posts.
22 mins: Leicester go agonisingly close to the Blues line following a wonderful break by Vesty but Maama Molitika produces a stunning try-saving tackle on Geordan Murphy.
20 mins: Blues lock Bradley Davies concedes a penalty near halfway and Dupuy's kick goes just wide. Tigers head coach Richard Cockerill is sitting in the stands and speaks into his wrist like an agent on Spooks - Toby Flood, get your kicking boots on.
15 mins: Leicester have the perfect opportunity to hit back immediately but Dupuy's second penalty hits the upright. Should the Tigers change their kicker?
13 mins: PENALTY Cardiff Blues 3-0 Leicester
A wonderful move from the Blues sees the Welsh side carve open the Leicester defence. Martyn Williams collects at the back of a line-out and feeds inside to the charging Halfpenny. The wing is brought down by a wonderful tackle from Tom Croft, but the England flanker is given a warning for hands in the ruck and Ben Blair
opens the scoring.
11 mins: Mistake from Halfpenny. He does not get in the right position to collect a high ball and knocks on - handing Leicester a scrum. The Tigers gave away a penalty at the set piece however, and Cardiff attack.
10 mins: Big blow for the Blues. Inspirational skipper Paul Tito is forced off injured and is replaced by Deiniol Jones. The likes of Rush and Martyn Williams now have to show their leadership skills.
8 mins: It is now time for Leicester to apply the pressure. A Dupuy clearance forces wing Leigh Halfpenny to turn towards his own line as he tries to collect. There is no-one to support him, however, and Leicester get a penalty for holding on. Dupuy's attempt at goal is pushed right of the posts.
5 mins: Great skills from Lions flanker Martyn Williams, who collects a misfiring Cardiff line-out and chips over the top into the Leicester 22. Tigers centre Vesty does well to dive on the ball and Dupuy clears.
3 mins: What a start this is. Breathless. Dupuy's poor pass lets the Blues claim possession from the scrum and wing Tom James launches a wonderful jinking run that takes him into the Leicester half. The move breaks down when he drops the ball in the tackle.
2 mins: Cardiff Blues try to keep the ball in hand but Robinson and hooker Gareth Williams are caught in midfield and Leicester win a scrum.
1 min: Blues fly-half Nicky Robinson starts the match. Leicester collect and scrum-half Julien Dupuy boots down the field.
1459: The teams stroll onto the pitch and the players' faces are pictures of concentration. A place in the Edinburgh final is at stake - this is not a place for the faint-hearted. Here we go.
"I still think the quality on the Tigers bench will swing it their way. White, Moody, Ellis and Mauger. That is superb impact."
StormOfSilence on 606
1453: It is an absolutely gorgeous day at the Millennium Stadium. The sun is beating down and there are an expected 50,000 fans enjoying the weather. There are lots of television close ups of some very good looking women in the stands, don't know why that is. The teams are ready to come out, hold on to your hats - this could be a good one.
"Come on the Blues! All of Wales are behind you today. Hope you can do it and I am a Scarlets fan."
Polska_leeds on 606
"Come on Cardiff. Here's hoping for an all Magners League final."
EamonH on 606
1446: Here's a quick bit of team news for you. Lions number eight Andy Powell has to be satisfied with a place on the bench as coach Dai Young has gone for Xavier Rush.
For Leicester, former England skipper Martin Corry has not been selected despite being available after a ban and injury while centre Aaron Mauger is on the bench after injury.
Cardiff Blues:
B Blair; Halfpenny; Shanklin, Roberts, James; Robinson, Rees; G Jenkins, G Williams, Filise, Davies, Tito (capt), Molitika, M Williams, Rush.
Replacements:
Yapp, T Rhys Thomas, D Jones, Powell, Allinson, Sweeney, G Thomas.
Leicester:
G Murphy (capt); Hamilton; Hipkiss, Vesty; J Murphy; Flood, Dupuy; Ayerza, Chuter, Castrogiovanni, Croft, Kay, Newby, Woods, Crane.
Replacements:
Kayser, White, Wentzel, Moody, Ellis, Mauger, Smith.
"Think Blues will run the Tigers off the park."
pontyoracle on 606
1442: Cardiff Blues have already demolished one English club this season in the form of Gloucester in the EDF Energy Cup final and are favourites to win this game and reach their first Heineken Cup final since the 1995/96 season.
The number one seeds are are bidding to become the first team to win every match on their way to the final since the advent of home and away pool matches in the 1998/99 season.
Leicester, Heineken Cup champions in 2001 and 2002 and runners-up on two other occasions, have had a turbulent season with the loss of coach Heyneke Meyer but are still in the hunt for a Premiership/European double.
The Blues have never beaten Leicester in the Heineken Cup, losing to them twice in the pool stages of the 2006/07 season - including a home game at the Millennium Stadium.
1440: Afternoon troops. Welcome to the live text commentary for the second Heineken Cup semi-final between newly-crowned EDF Energy Cup champions Cardiff Blues and two-time Heineken Cup winners Leicester.
We've already had one upset with Leinster's stunning display against reigning champions Munster in Dublin on Saturday - so we surely can't have another classic can we? Can we?
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