Kings fall short at rainy Cardiff Arms Park

Cardiff - The Cardiff Blues battled to a scrappy 26-19 bonus-point win over the Southern Kings in difficult conditions at Cardiff Arms Park on Saturday night.

As it happened: Cardiff Blues v Kings

According to the Cardiff Blues' official website, the encounter was littered with errors, but Cardiff did what they needed as they took a maximum points haul to keep their playoff hopes alive.

The teams went into the break level at 7-apiece after Dries van Schalkwyk responded to Owen Lane's early effort.

The Kings took the lead early in the second-half to leave the 5 312, who braved the miserable conditions, shell-shocked but the hosts battled back emphatically.

Nick Williams and Olly Robinson both powered over the line to regain the lead before the bonus point was sealed with three minutes remaining, as Jason Harries slid over in the corner.

Masixole Banda crossed the whitewash for a consolation score for the visitors in the final play of the game.

The win means Cardiff Blues remain level on points with Connacht in Conference A, but the Galway-based province currently pip John Mulvihill's side to third place on points difference, following a convincing win over Ospreys earlier in the day.

The Kings' late score gave them a bonus point which enabled them to move off bottom spot of Conference B, moving past the Dragons.

Scorers:

Cardiff Blues

Tries: Owen Lane, Nick Williams, Olly Robinson, Jason Harries

Conversions: Jarrod Evans (3)

Southern Kings

Tries: Dries van Schalkwyk, Michael Willsemse, Masixole Banda

Conversions: Bader Pretorius, Banda

Teams:

Cardiff Blues

15 Aled Summerhill, 14 Owen Lane, 13 Harri Millard, 12 Willis Halaholo, 11 Jason Harries, 10 Jarrod Evans, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 Nick Williams (captain), 7 Olly Robinson, 6 Shane Lewis-Hughes, 5 Macauley Cook, 4 George Earle, 3 Scott Andrews, 2  Liam Belcher, 1 Brad Thyer

Substitutes: 16 Ethan Lewis, 17 Corey Domachowski, 18 Keiron Assiratti, 19 Rory Thornton, 20 Seb Davies, 21 Tomos Williams, 22 Garyn Smith, 23 Matthew Morgan

Southern Kings

15 Ulrich Beyers, 14 Yaw Penxe, 13 Meli Rokoua, 12 Tertius Kruger, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Bader Pretorius, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Andisa Ntsila, 7 Tienie Burger, 6 Henry Brown, 5 JC Astle, 4 Andries van Schalkwyk, 3 De-Jay Terblanche, 2 Michael Willemse (captain), 1 Alulutho Tshakweni

Substitutes: 16 Alandre Van Rooyen, 17 Schalk Ferreira, 18 Lumpumlo Mguca, 19 Stephan Greeff, 20 Stephan de Wit, 21 Rudi van Rooyen, 22 Berton Klaasen, 23 Masixole Banda