It took a while for them to do so, yet by the end some of the young guns were firing and giving a glimmer of hope for the future. The half-back pairing of Ryan Powell and Nicky Robinson is one that could yet emerge as a promising pairing and the threat of Rhys Williams and Craig Morgan behind the scrum will always provide a sharp cutting edge in attack.Williams showed his pace to bag the opening try just before half time and that score gave Cardiff the confidence boost they needed to take the game to Glasgow in the second half with the wind at their backs.Confidence is the key to this Cardiff side. When they are on song, they can be irrepressible, but there have been only fleeting glimpses of them at their best this season. Winning was obviously important, but Joubert will have been more pleased with the determination and application shown by largely his second string side.The wind-assisted second half revival at least gave the sparse home crowd something to shout about as Matt Allen, Gary Powell and Francois Mounier all crossed for tries.

It was better than nothing, but better days for one of the world’s most famous rugby clubs will have to come soon or the long knives that have already severed the past three coaches could be sharpened again.As for Glasgow, the capitulation of their pack in the second half will be a worry to their coach Richie Dixon and he now has to find a way to marry up to a hectic league programme in the middle of the Six Nations competition. Don’t bank on either of these sides winning the title.Cardiff: Tries R Williams, M Allen, G Powell, F Mounier; Conversions N Robinson 3; Penalty N Robinson. Glasgow: Penalties G Kiddie 4.Cardiff: R Williams; C Hudson, M Allen, P Muller (capt), C Morgan (A Henry, 75); N Robinson, R Powell; K Fourie, A Lewis (J Humphreys, 63), G Powell (D Young, 68), A Jones, J Tait (C Quinnell, 55), F Mounier (M Williams, 75), S Sititi, E Lewis.Glasgow: G Metcalfe; J Steel, A Bulloch, A Henderson (J Stuart, 70), R Kerr (I McInroy, 22), G Kiddie, G Beveridge; D Hilton (L Harrison, 78), G Bulloch (capt, G Scott, 72), G McIlwham, S Griffiths, J White, R Reid (N Ross, 56), T McLaren, J Petrie.Referee: DR Davies (Llanbradach).. Marcelo Rios has never minced his words, but his latest diatribe has made him many enemies among the women at Melbourne Park. But Hingis said: “I think if I played with him one time he’d change his mind.”Hingis raced into the last eight with a 6-1, 6-0 defeat of Amanda Coetzer and has dropped only nine games in her four matches.

Her next opponent is the 21-year-old Italian Adriana Serra Zanetti who beat the Slovakian Martina Sucha in the quarter-final in which Serena Williams would have played but for an ankle injury.Williams, the second seed and favourite, beat Magdalena Maleeva 6-0, 6-3. Afterwards, she was as defensive as Hingis, saying: “I enjoy the women’s game. We are entitled to be here and I think it’s interesting enough in the early rounds.”Williams has complained of left knee problems this week. Against Maleeva she had two break points against each of her three service games in the first set. But she recovered with ease to race through the set in a mere 19 minutes. Maleeva earned a big cheer from the crowd when she won her first game of the match in the second game of the second set.

But Williams broke easily two games later and then shut Maleeva out with unplayable winners.She next faces her fellow American Monica Seles who was 4-2 up before her opponent Anabel Medina Garrigues, of Spain, injured a knee and retired.. Tim Henman’s familiar descent from hero to zero in Melbourne over the weekend made even his admirers wonder if the British No 1 really has what it takes to win a major championship, or if three losing semi-finals at Wimbledon will be as good as he gets. An almost flawless display of confidence and consistency against Rusedski, who was left cursing the umpire and the injustice of losing in four sets after playing reasonably well, was followed by yesterday’s depressing let-down against Jonas Bjorkman, whose straight-sets win took him through to a meeting with Thomas Johansson, a Swedish compatriot, in the quarter-finals.Bjorkman’s tennis was as inspired as Henman’s was flat, and the gulf in confidence grew as the match progressed. Henman, whose calm, steady serving had frustrated Rusedski, double-faulted on the first point against Bjorkman, and his nervous start emboldened the 29-year-old Swede, one of the best returners of serve in the game. Henman’s volleying, which had stretched Rusedski, was suspect at crucial moments – such as one he netted when serving for the second set at 5-3.