Cardiff Local Guide A guide to all Things Cardiff
Front row partner Kristian Dacey scored an early try from Blues in swirling high winds.
But back came Treviso and a score from Michele Campagnaro gave the Italians, who were almost at full strength, a 13-10 half-time lead.
However, Blues had the advantage of the strong blustery wind in the second half and Hobbs crashed over to regain the lead for the hosts in deteriorating conditions as they recorded a third win of the campaign.
Blustery weather greeted kick-off and it was the visitors from Italy who looked to apply early pressure as scrum half Tobias Botes kicked in behind Blues.
Captain Josh Navidi, switched to openside in the absence of Sam Warburton, made ground down the middle while Gareth Davies looked to unlock Treviso with a chip ahead that was collected over his head by the retreating Albert Sgarbi.
Hooker Kristian Dacey did well to roll out of a big tackle while Dan Fish took a quick tap penalty as Blues looked to play with plenty of width and tempo in the opening five minutes.
Midfield duo Dafydd Hewitt and Richard Smith tried to break tackles before Robin Copeland showed a clean pair of heels down the middle but was hauled back by a retreating Treviso defense.
A high penalty count and the whistle of referee Andrew McMenemy was going against the visitors in the opening ten minutes as they looked to force territory and win back possession on the floor.
Davies slipped out of a tackle to fly into the Italian half and as Treviso strayed offside, the outside half drilled over the opening points of the afternoon in high winds.
A brilliant break by wing Chris Czekaj and Fish from deep, with the full back kicking ahead into space, caused panic as Treviso were hauled down as they looked to run out for a home scrum five.
A big scrum saw Andries Pretorius peel off the back and punch a hole in the defensive line before a series of forward shunts ended in Dacey crashing over from close range for the opening try of the game.
A high tackle on Sam Hobbs by Christian Loamanu gave Blues more attacking ball, but when they infringed on the floor it was a low kick from Berquist into the wind that put Treviso on the board.
Czekaj showed great strength to rattle through two tackles and Blues again showed neat hands to keep the ball alive. But after doing the hard work, possession was wastefully lost on the floor and Treviso hacked away into space.
Berquist saw another long range penalty attempt from halfway drilled right of the posts, but when Blues infringed and failed to roll away, another kick found the target to reduce the lead to 10-6.
Lou Reed limped off just after the half hour mark while Treviso scored a superb team try as they linked well in the backs and broke through as Michele Campagnaro scored.
A break from Mano Vosawai down the middle threatened a second score as the Number Eight made big yards before recycling the ball as the Italians started to click through the gears.
Blues then had a major escape when Treviso back row Dean Budd knocked on as he stretched for the line while Navidi showed great work to turnover ball in the shadow of his own posts.
The home side had the advantage of the second half wind behind their backs and looked to pin Treviso back in the opening minutes of the second half.
Blues worked an overlap that they failed to capitalise on as the ball was not shifted wide left quick enough as the Italians continued to battle for every ball.
The home side then turned over a lineout but from close range the handling skills were not good enough as Phil Davies’ team could not find a killer blow.
Pretorius had a try ruled out for a forward final pass from Fish to the Number Eight.
The score was coming and when a weak clearing kick was gobbled up by Fish he attacked the line at pace to race up a yard short. The ball was recycled and flicked into the hands of Hobbs who crashed over with support from his team-mates.
Back came Treviso with a period of sustained pressure as they bulldozed down the middle and then went to work through the forwards as they picked and went around the fringes to win a scrum.
The home side worked hard to win the ball back and more great work at the breakdown gave Davies a long range effort that caught the wind but went wide right of the uprights.
The wind continued to pick up and monsoon conditions hit the Arms Park as the ball flew between both hands which meant keeping possession proved increasingly tricky.
A needless trip on Marc Breeze gave Blues another shot at goal, but Davies pushed his kick left of the target with just over 12 minutes left in the fixture.
Treviso were struggling to get out of their own half with any clearing kicks almost coming back on themselves.
A brilliant burst from Copeland saw him rattle down the left wing and then the all-action Number Eight turned over the ball, the opposite side of the field, to spark yet another home attack as time slipped away.
The dying seconds saw Treviso throw caution to the wind and look to run from deep, but when the ball was spun wide it went into touch to spark celebrations for Blues as they recorded another home win.
Timeline:
14m Davies p 3-0
18m Dacey t Davies c 10-0
22m Berquist p 10-3
29m Berquist p 10-6
35m Campagnaro t Berquist c 10-13
54m Hobbs t Davies c 17-13
Cardiff Blues: 15 Dan Fish (Robinson 58), 14 Tom Williams, 13 Richard Smith, 12 Dafydd Hewitt, 11 Chris Czekaj, 10 Gareth Davies, 9 Lewis Jones; 1 Sam Hobbs (Davies 75), 2 Kristian Dacey (Breeze 63), 3 Taufa’ao Filise (Bourrust 79), 4 Lou Reed (Down 32), 5 Filo Paulo, 6 Andries Pretorius (Watts-Jones 80), 7 Josh Navidi, 8 Robin Copeland (Watts-Jones 16-29)
Replacements: 16 Marc Breeze, 17 Thomas Davies, 18 Benoit Bourrust, 19 James Down, 20 Rory Watts-Jones, 21 Alex Walker, 22 Aled Summerhill, 23 Harry Robinson
Benetton Treviso: 15 Brendan Williams, 14 Ludovico Nitoglia, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Andrea Pratichetti, 10 Mat Berquist, 9 Tobias Botes; 1 Michele Rizzo, 2 Enrico Ceccato, 3 Ignacio Fernandez-Rouyet, 4 Valerio Bernabo, 5 Marco Fuser, 6 Dean Budd, 7 Robert Barbieri, 8 Manoa Vosawai.
Replacements: 16 Franco Sbaraglini, 17 Giovanni Maistri, 18 Pedro Di Santo, 19 Corniel Van Zyl, 20 Marco Filippucci, 21 Christian Loamanu, 22 Fabio Semenzato, 23 James Ambrosini.
