Pro14: Cardiff Blues 22-5 Benetton

Cardiff Blues wing Owen Lane slides over for a try against Benetton

Cardiff Blues ground out a hard-fought Pro14 win over Benetton on a wet and windy night at Rodney Parade.

The Welsh region led 8-0 at half-time following a Jarrod Evans penalty and Rory Thornton try.

Wales wing Owen Lane crossed for a stylish second-half try, with Evans adding the extra points.

Tomas Baravalle responded with a late Benetton try, but Blues replacement Ben Thomas responded for the home side to add the final score.

It was a third win for Cardiff Blues this season and stopped a run of three defeats.

Wales fly-half Evans and centre Willis Halaholo returned from minor injuries but flanker James Botham was unavailable.

Botham was named to start but was called up by Wales a couple of hours before kick-off, James Ratti packed down in the back-row alongside Olly Robinson and the outstanding Josh Turnbull, who was named man-of-the-match.

There were also recalls for props Corey Domachowski and Scott Andrews, while Ben Murphy started at lock.

Scrum-half Jamie Hill made his full Pro14 debut as Evans' half-back partner. Garyn Smith made his 100th Blues appearance by partnering Halaholo at centre.

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Ian Keatley failed to open the scoring for Benetton, missing his kick after the Cardiff Blues scrum was penalised, before Evans hit the post with his effort.

The deadlock was broken when Evans slotted his second effort and Cardiff Blues extended their lead when second-row Thornton was driven over.

Cardiff Blues suffered another back-row blow when Robinson was forced off early in the second half with what appeared to be a shoulder injury.

The game's defining moment came when Lane burst through the Benetton defence with a classy try on his 50th appearance for the region.

Benetton were put under further pressure when replacement Marco Barbini was also yellow-carded for persistent offending by the Italians.

The Italian visitors battled back with a try for replacement Baravalle, before Thomas completed the scoring from a free-flowing move.

Cardiff Blues head coach John Mulvihill told BBC Radio Wales: "I was proud of them tonight.

"The conditions were pretty horrendous for both teams but for the first time in a long time our playmakers - our nines, 10s and 15s - stood up and got us to the right end of the pitch.

"Our forwards deserve full credit because they worked hard. We can front-up physically and have some size in our pack and we dominated them tonight."

Cardiff Blues: Matthew Morgan; Owen Lane, Garyn Smith, Willis Halaholo, Hallam Amos; Jarrod Evans, Jamie Hill; Corey Domachowski, Kristian Dacey, Scott Andrews, Ben Murphy, Rory Thornton, James Ratti, Olly Robinson, Josh Turnbull.

Replacements: Ethan Lewis, Brad Thyer, Keiron Assiratti, Teddy Williams, Alun Lawrence, Lewis Jones, Ben Thomas, Aled Summerhill.

Benetton: Jayden Hayward; Ratuva Tavuyara, Joaquin Riera, Nacho Brex, Monty Ioane; Ian Keatley, Callum Braley; Nicola Quaglio, Hame Faiva, Filippo Alongi, Federico Ruzza, Eli Snyman, Giovanni Pettinelli, Manuel Zuliani, Toa Halafihi.

Replacements: Tomas Baravalle, Thomas Gallo, Tiziano Pasquali, Irné Herbst, Michele Lamaro, Marco Barbini, Luca Petrozzi, Angelo Esposito.

Referee: Frank Murphy (Ire).

Assistant referees: Dan Jones, Adam Jones (Wal)

TMO: Ian Davies (Wal).