Cardiff Blues score bonus-point win over Montpellier
Last Updated: 13/12/15 10:03pm
Cardiff Blues staged an impressive fightback to score a bonus-point 37-27 win over Montpellier in the European Challenge Cup.
The Blues rocked the visitors with a Rhys Patchell score in the opening minute but Montpellier hit back with three tries in the first quarter.
Josh Navidi and Lloyd Williams crossed either side of half-time before Alex Cuthbert's try put the Blues in front.
Navidi's second try put the result beyond doubt but Charles Geli's late try gave the French a bonus point.
The win puts the Blues level on points at the top of Pool Three with Harlequins who are away to Calvisano on Saturday.
Montpellier looked a safe bet to return to France with two bonus points after Demetri Catrakilis' conversion brought them within seven points only for Patchell to halve their return when landing a penalty in what was the last kick of the game.
Patchell was forced to move from out-half to full-back just before kick-off after Dan Fish suffered a thigh injury warming-up.
Playing out of position he gave the Blues the perfect start with the game's first try which he converted.
But Montpellier then looked a class apart in the opening quarter and blitzed the Blues with three tries through prop Jamie Mackintosh and wings Timoci Nagusa and Julien Malzieu.
The visitors were 13 points ahead before the Blues regrouped and fought their way back into the match with two tries either side of half-time through flanker Navidi and scrum-half Williams.
Moments before the home side's third try, Montpellier lost hooker Bismarck Du Plessis to the sin bin, and replacement second-row Robins Tchale-Watchou soon followed, reducing the French to 13 men.
Still, they held out through this period before coughing up a fourth try when a loose pass allowed Cuthbert to intercept and the Wales wing ran from his own half to score.
Patchell stretched the advantage with another penalty and then Navidi's second score gave the Blues enough breathing space to mean Geli's late try did not prove too costly.
