European Challenge Cup: Calvisano 9-50 Cardiff Blues

Cardiff Blues observe a minute's silence ahead of facing Calvisano to honour victims of the attacks in Paris

Cardiff Blues began their European Challenge Cup campaign with a seven-try, bonus-point win against Italian minnows Calvisano.

Scrum-half Lloyd Williams celebrated his 100th regional appearance with the opening try.

Five of the touchdowns came in the second half as the hosts tired.

Tom James, man-of-the-match flanker Ellis Jenkins, Dan Fish, Blaine Scully, Gavin Evans and a penalty try added to the scoreline as the home side tired.

Rhys Patchell kicked 11 points and Jarrod Evans two conversions, with Filippo Buscema kicking all the Calvisano points.

Fish's 50th minute try - a length of the field effort - was the pick of the Blues' effort, allowing them to relax and use their replacements in the final half-hour.

Afterwards wings James and Alex Cuthbert were highlighted by coach Danny Wilson for their good performances while teenage fly-half Evans and American newcomer Scully also ran strongly in the closing stages.

It was the Welsh side's first win since the opening weekend of the season when they trounced Zebre in the Pro12.

Blues now face a five-day turnaround before hosting Harlequins, who opened with a bonus-point home win over Montpellier last Thursday.

Flanker Ellis Jenkins told BBC Wales: "We knew they [Calvisano] had a big pack of forwards and were a proud team at home, so it took us a while to grind them down.

"We tried to play a little bit early but once we got the message we stuck to our structure, it opened up towards the end and we scored some great tries.

"We spoke about not letting our foot off the gas and I thought we did that really well.

"We put in a great performance against Glasgow last week and switched off at the end, so we stuck with it and got a good result.

"We've spoken in the changing-rooms [about the quick turnaround].

"We need to do our homework on Harlequins and make sure we come out firing against them on Thursday."

Teams

Calvisano: Matteo Minozzi; Ben De Jager, Giacomo de Santis, Alberto Chiesa, Marco Susio; Filippo Buscema, Riccardo Raffaele; Sami Panico, Lorenzo Giovanchelli, Salvatore Costanzo, Agustin Cavalieri (capt), Davide Zanetti, Matteo Archetti, Maxime Mbanda, Jim Tuivaiti

Replacements: Luhandre Luus, Gabriele Morelli, Rudy Biancotti, Michele Andreotti, Luca Beccaris, Renato Giammarioli, Emilio Vezzoli, Daniele Di Giulio.

Cardiff Blues: Dan Fish; Alex Cuthbert, Rey Lee-Lo, Gavin Evans, Tom James; Rhys Patchell, Lloyd Williams; Gethin Jenkins (capt), Kristian Dacey, Dillon Lewis, Jarrad Hoeata, James Down, Ellis Jenkins, Sam Warburton, Josh Turnbull.

Replacements: Matthew Rees, Thomas Davies, Craig Mitchell, Lou Reed, Manoa Vosawai, Tavis Knoyle, Jarrod Evans, Blaine Scully.

Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys (England).

Touch judges: Andrew Small (England), Nigel Carrick (England).

Fourth official: Francesco Russo (Italy).

Citing commissioner: Jean-Claude Legendre (France).