Dai Young’s men harbour dreams of success both at home and in Europe but failed to live up to their billing of league leaders against an adventurous Scottish outfit.
Scotland international Dan Parks was pivotal as he kicked all 17 points to cancel out Rhys Williams’s first-half try on a disappointing night as they suffered only their second domestic defeat of the season north of the border.
Blues Coach Young called for his men to produce a much-improved performance following the draw at Harlequins last weekend but they struggled to gain a foothold in the match.
Young lost five players due to international duty with Wales but was able to call on seasoned campaigners Martyn Williams and Gareth Thomas who would have normally been preparing themselves to run out at the Millennium Stadium this afternoon.
The veteran pair had to face up to the challenge of life outside the Wales camp by performing in front of a paltry 1,638 crowd on a bitterly cold night in Scotland’s largest city.
And just as Wales’s World Cup skipper Thomas was adjusting to life outside of the Test arena, his inside pass on eight minutes was intercepted by Parks who sprinted home from 60 metres to open the scoring.
Sean Lineen’s side, who are unbeaten at home this season, were certainly buoyed by the fly half’s early try but should have doubled their advantage on 16 minutes only for flanker John Barclay to throw a forward pass with the Blues try line at the Warriors’ mercy.
Just three minutes later, Thom Evans’s subtle kick put the visitors in trouble and forced Blues fullback Ben Blair to run the ball into touch just short of his own line. From the resulting phase of play, the Warriors turned their superior possession into points when Parks slotted home a close-range penalty to cap a mis-firing opening quarter for the Blues.
But the Welsh region hit back immediately when the electric Williams showed his blistering pace and power on the right touchline to finish superbly following a neat passing exchange involving centres Tal Selley and Dafydd Hewitt.
The usually reliable Blair was suffering an off night with the boot and pulled his conversion to the left of the posts. And the Warriors made the Kiwi pay as they increased their advantage to six points with Parks second penalty. Blair unluckily missed another kick as he struck the left upright and the Warriors deservedly took an 11-5 lead into the break.
Parks took his personal tally to 14 points on 54 minutes before scoring a neatly-taken drop goal. And to compound matters for the visitors, Williams left the field on a stretcher with just seven minutes remaining as the Blues failed to grab a losing bonus-point.
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