Gareth Anscombe earned huge praise from Cardiff Blues coach John Mulvihill after delivering a stunning performance that might well propel him into Wales’ starting team for the autumn.
The New Zealand-born player scored 20 points – a tally that included a breath-taking solo try – as the Blues stunned Lyon with a 30-21 victory in France.
Not only did in get the Blues’ Heineken Champions Cup campaign off to a flying start, but the moments of class from Anscombe might just be enough to make him the Wales No.10 for November, five years after he first arrived in Wales.
Although playing at full-back, the Kiwi was a key distributor and decision-maker for the Blues who thoroughly deserved their victory.
Mulvihill also singled out young scrum-half Tomos Williams for his mature display and said: “I thought Gareth and Tomos were outstanding.
“They both produced big displays, but every single player can be proud of their performance. Jarrod Evans had his moments, too, in unleashing the backs outside him.”
But while Anscombe’s form at full-back will have pleased Wales head coach Warren Gatland ahead of next month’s autumn series, the sight of Owen Lane hobbling off with a left hamstring pull won’t have been so great.
Lane also injured his ankle in the opening exchanges and will now be an injury doubt for the games against Scotland, Australia, Tonga and South Africa.
It was the first time since 2014 that the Blues – last season’s Challenge Cup winners – had played in the Heineken Champions Cup and they overturned an early 10 point deficit to notch only their fourth win in 21 ties on French soil in the competition.
“The whole coaching group, everyone who came to Lyon as part of the team, and the supporters are so proud of this team. They produced a fantastic performance,” said Blues head coach John Mulvihill.
“We knew if we opened the game up and moved the ball around then we would have some success and we wanted to keep the ball away from the Lyon forwards. They have a great scrum and line-out.”
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A try from No. 8 Loann Goujon and a conversion and penalty from Lionel Beauxis gave Lyon the perfect start, but once the Blues got their running game going they were soon on top.
First, Williams dummied his way past the first line of defence and popped the ball up to Robinson.
Williams then scored one of his own after Ellis Jenkins intercepted a pass and raced clear. Anscombe converted both tries in impressive fashion.
Two more penalties from Beauxis gave Lyon a 16-14 interval lead, but Anscombe responded with a brace of his own as the Blues hit back when the game resumed.
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The Wales star then sliced clean through in a devastating run from half-way to score a wonder try to stretch the lead to 11 points with another conversion.
Lyon scored a try through Quentin Delord with 90 seconds to play to seemingly secure a losing bonus-point, but a Jenkins turn-over penalty in front of the posts allowed Anscombe to steal it away from them with the final kick of the match.
“We talked about our return to the Champions Cup a lot in the build-up to the game and it was a big focus for us. We want to do this competition proud,” Mulvihill added.
“It means a lot to us to play against the best teams in Europe and this is a fantastic tournament. The physicality of the games is huge and we stood up to that.
“It’s a great result for us and hopefully it means we can pack out Cardiff Arms Park next Sunday when Glasgow visit because that’s going to be another big game for us. Hopefully, we can build on this win.”
