{"id":8000,"date":"2015-12-01T17:12:11","date_gmt":"2015-12-01T17:12:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/?p=8000"},"modified":"2015-12-01T17:12:11","modified_gmt":"2015-12-01T17:12:11","slug":"defeated-blues-look-set-miss-wales-star-halfpenny","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2015\/12\/01\/defeated-blues-look-set-miss-wales-star-halfpenny\/","title":{"rendered":"Defeated Blues look set to miss out on Wales star Halfpenny"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<br \/>\nCARDIFF Blues were defeated 12-6 by the Ospreys in Swansea, amid mounting speculation Leigh Halfpenny has rejected a move back to the Arms Park.<br \/>\nThe 62 times capped Welsh international is widely thought to be departing European champions Toulon at the end of the season, in favour of a move back to the UK.<br \/>\nThe Blues had been hoping that they could lure their former player back to the capital city on a national dual contract, with Danny Wilson\u2019s side having first refusal on the player under the terms of the Rugby Services Agreement.<br \/>\n<figure id=\"attachment_8002\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8002\" style=\"width: 330px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/leigh-halfpenny.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-8002 \" src=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/leigh-halfpenny-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"Slam-0215\" width=\"330\" height=\"219\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-8002\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-8002 \" src=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/leigh-halfpenny-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"Slam-0215\" width=\"330\" height=\"219\" \/><\/noscript><\/a> Wanted man: Leigh Halfpenny<\/figcaption><\/figure><br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\nHowever, reports have surfaced that should Halfpenny return to Wales it will be to the Scarlets, who can offer the 26-year-old Champions Cup rugby, along with the added bonus of being based just 15 minutes away from his Gorseinon home.<br \/>\nDespite a concerted push by the WRU to bring home one of Welsh rugby\u2019s genuine superstars, wealthy Aviva Premiership outfit Wasps are firm favourites for his signature.<br \/>\nFailure to sign Halfpenny would be a severe blow to the Blues, who may find it difficult to attract quality players given their lowly league position and a lack of Champions Cup rugby.<br \/>\nHowever, Saturday\u2019s 12-6 Pro 12 defeat to the Ospreys did provide a glimmer of hope for Blues supporters.<br \/>\nAfter the positive decision to cut the size of the playing roster in order to create a squad based on quality over quantity, the Blues have seen some positive performances from some of their Wales age grade contingent.<br \/>\nHooker Ethan Lewis was very prominent after coming on in the second half on Saturday, whilst the performances of teenage fly half Jarrod Evans have been promising.<br \/>\nHead coach Danny Wilson was optimistic about the potential of some of the younger players in his squad.<br \/>\n\u201cEthan\u2019s an example of a young Cardiff Blues player that we need to give exposure to, and we need to be patient with and they will come through\u201d, said Wilson.<br \/>\n\u201cIt\u2019s a great experience for Jarrod.<br \/>\n\u201cThere\u2019s definitely bits for him to improve on, but I though his first half defensive display, and getting some of our attack going in the second half was a credit to him.<br \/>\n\u201cWe\u2019ve made no secret it\u2019s about us managing the short term and the long term.<br \/>\n\u201cIn the long term we will build a squad here that will be more than competitive, and we will improve our league position over the long haul.\u201d<br \/>\nThe Blues started Saturday\u2019s encounter brightly with Jarrod Evans converting a penalty to put the Blues ahead by three points after eight minutes.<br \/>\nIn what was a dour spectacle, the Ospreys had the lion&#8217;s share of possession in the first half, but a lack of creativity and an improved Blues defensive effort meant the Blues went in 0-3 ahead at the interval.<br \/>\n<figure id=\"attachment_8001\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8001\" style=\"width: 364px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/scrum-ospreys-.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-8001\" src=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/scrum-ospreys--300x300.png\" alt=\"scrum ospreys\" width=\"364\" height=\"364\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-8001\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-8001\" src=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/scrum-ospreys--300x300.png\" alt=\"scrum ospreys\" width=\"364\" height=\"364\" \/><\/noscript><\/a> Blues scrum dominance<\/figcaption><\/figure><br \/>\nThe Blues started the second half in the same manner as the first with Evans landing a penalty to double the Blues\u2019 lead to 0-6.<br \/>\nAfter a sustained period of pressure the Ospreys finally broke down the visitors\u2019 defence when skipper Alun Wyn Jones crashed over for a try on 57 minutes, which Sam Davies converted to put the Ospreys 7-6 ahead.<br \/>\nDespite the dominance that the Blues held in the scrum they were not able to take advantage, with Davies converting a penalty on 69 minutes following a Blues infringement at the breakdown.<br \/>\nAs the Blues ran out of steam, the last ten minutes saw the Ospreys pack take control, with Davies landing a further penalty to consign the Blues to a narrow 13-6 defeat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; CARDIFF Blues were defeated 12-6 by the Ospreys in Swansea, amid mounting speculation Leigh Halfpenny has rejected a move back to the Arms Park. The 62 times capped Welsh international is widely thought to be departing European champions Toulon at the end of the season, in favour of a move back to the UK. The Blues had been hoping that they could lure their former player back to the capital city on a national dual contract, with Danny Wilson\u2019s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":248,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[151,4,292],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-8000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rugby","category-sport","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Cardiff Blues may miss out on Wales star Leigh Halfpenny<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Cardiff Blues lost the derby game against the Ospreys and also seem set 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