91Èȱ¬

Edinburgh missed the chance to replace Scarlets at the top of the Pro12 as they were beaten by Cardiff Blues.

Dan Fish scored a try inside 90 seconds as the Blues dominated the early exchanges to lead 10-3 at half-time.

Chances were rare in a tight second half and, despite having a Rhys Patchell try disallowed, the Welsh side held on with some ease.

Victory lifted the Blues up to eighth in the table, while Edinburgh stay fourth.

In a meeting of two much-changed sides, the teams took to the field missing nine players each on Six Nations duty.

Scarlets' defeat by Connacht earlier on Saturday gave Edinburgh the chance to go top, but the Scottish side seldom threatened at Cardiff Arms Park.

The hosts made a blistering start as wing Aled Summerhill broke through the Edinburgh defence and fed full-back Fish to touch down in the corner for a converted score.

Manoa Vosawai had two chances to claim the Blues' second try, first penalised for double-movement just short of the try line before spilling the ball from the back of a rolling mall with the whitewash at his mercy.

Patchell and Nathan Fowles traded penalties and, although the Blues controlled possession and territory, they had to settle for a seven-point lead at the interval.

The second half was a more even affair, although Edinburgh were reduced to 14 men when prop Rory Sutherland was sin-binned for obstructing a quickly taken Blues tap penalty.

Patchell missed a second penalty but appeared to have redeemed himself with a try, only for the television match official to disallow the score for a foot in touch.

That was academic, however, as the Blues climbed above Glasgow in the Pro12 table by virtue of having scored more tries.

Cardiff Blues: Dan Fish; Blaine Scully, Rey Lee-Lo, Gavin Evans, Aled Summerhill; Rhys Patchell, Tavis Knoyle; Thomas Davies, Matthew Rees (capt), Salesi Ma'afu, Jarrad Hoeata, James Down, Ellis Jenkins, Josh Navidi, Manoa Vosawai.

Replacements: Ethan Lewis, Bradley Thyer, Dillon Lewis, Macauley Cook, Jevon Groves, Tomos Williams, Jarrod Evans, Elis-Wyn Benham.

Edinburgh: Greig Tonks, Dougie Fife, Michael Allen, Andries Strauss, Tom Brown, Phil Burleigh, Nathan Fowles, Rory Sutherland, Neil Cochrane, John Andress, Alex Toolis, Mike Coman (capt), Jamie Ritchie, Hamish Watson, Cornell Du Preez.

Replacements: Stuart McInally, Allan Dell, Simon Berghan, Magnus Bradbury, George Turner, Sean Kennedy, Will Helu, Blair Kinghorn.

Referee: David Wilkinson (IRFU)

Assistant referees: Dan Jones, Martyn Lewis (both WRU)

Citing commissioner: Jeff Mark (WRU)

Television match official: Gareth Simmonds (WRU)