The second semi-final of the EDF Energy Cup at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday contrasted with the one that preceded it. The all-Welsh contest between the Ospreys and the Cardiff Blues was played at a faster pace and had less of the full-frontal assault up front and more use of the wider spaces of the pitch.

The pace was fast, but it was often too frantic in the early stages when, for all the ambition of both sides, there were too many errors. Nonetheless, it made for an exciting match and summed up the contrast in approach between English and Welsh clubs: the first semi-final was a muscle game at close quarters, the second had lighter touches.

If Harry Ellis, the Leicester and England scrum half, had to wait interminably for the ball to come to him in the first match, Justin Marshall, for the Ospreys, could pick and choose his next move and, along with James Hook outside him, controlled the second match.

Marshall may have been fired up because of the contest with Mike Phillips, a firebrand at scrum half for Cardiff Blues who will play for the Ospreys next season. Marshall won this personal contest by a long stretch and also took the man-of-the-match award.

It proved a comfortable victory for the Ospreys, which should be no surprise, with three Cardiff players sent to the sin-bin. From the 22nd minute until eight minutes after the interval they were down to 14 men and for four minutes in the first half — with Scott Morgan and Deiniol Jones off the field — they were down to 13. In addition, Robert Sidoli, the Cardiff lock, may have been thought fortunate to escape with a yellow card after throwing a punch at Brent Cockbain.

By the time Cardiff were back to their full complement, the Ospreys had established a 15-3 lead and, having found their rhythm, they were unlikely to allow the disrupted opposition to recover so much lost ground.

The Ospreys’ tries, both of which were scored against a depleted Blues, came from a strong diagonal run by Sonny Parker in the first half and the other, five minutes after the interval, by Lee Byrne after fine passing by Marshall, Hook and Parker sent the full back over in the corner. Hook, who had scored 22 points the previous week for Wales, accumulated 17 more.

Ben Blair scored all the points for Cardiff, with a penalty to give his team the early lead and a late consolation try.

— The Welsh Rugby Union launched its search yesterday for an elite performance director, the equivalent in Wales to Rob Andrew’s role in England. Some of the names considered by the RFU will crop up again, but the Welsh will spend the summer looking for the right individual who may come from outside rugby.

Scorers: Cardiff Blues: Try: Blair (70min). Conversion: Blair. Penalty goal: Blair (13). Ospreys: Tries: Parker (25), Byrne (45). Conversion: Hook. Penalty goals: Hook 4 (22, 53, 61, 69). Dropped goal: Hook (72).

Scoring sequence (Cardiff Blues first): 3-0, 3-3, 3-10 (half-time); 3-15, 3-18, 3-21, 3-24, 10-24, 10-27.

Cardiff Blues: B Blair; T James, J Robinson (rep: N Mcleod, 73) M Stcherbina, C Czekaj; N Robinson, M Phillips; T Filise (rep: S Roberts, 75), R Thomas (rep: G Williams, 70), G Powell, D Jones (sin-bin, 29-39; rep: B Davies, 57), R Sidoli (sin-bin, 38-48), S Morgan (sin-bin, 22-32; rep: M Lewis, 68), M Williams, X Rush.

Ospreys: L Byrne (rep: S Terblanche, 78); S Williams, S Parker, A Bishop, N Walker; J Hook (rep: S Connor, 78), J Marshall (rep: J Spice, 79); D Jones, H Bennett (rep: B Williams, 73), A Jones, B Cockbain (rep: A Lloyd, 76), A Wyn-Jones, R Jones, J Thomas, F Tiatia (rep: R Pugh, 71).

Referee: W Barnes.

Attendance: 40,293.