BKT URC Round One review: Returning Wales star shines as Cardiff start season with derby victory

Simon Thomas

Cardiff Rugby celebrated the return of key man Teddy Williams as they kicked off their BKT URC campaign with a 21-15 Welsh derby win away to the Scarlets.

Second row Williams missed virtually the whole of last season with the freak foot injury which he sustained in October 2025.

Having finally recovered from the uncommon dislocation, he resumed playing over the summer, making three appearances for Wales.

Now he has returned to club duty, making an impressive comeback against the Scarlets in Llanelli, where he caught the eye with his carrying and passing.

Cardiff coach Corniel van Zyl said: “I am very pleased for him personally. He had a massive injury.

“It definitely tested our stock a little bit in the second row.

“He’s had a decent start to the season with that performance and there is definitely something to build on.”

Van Zyl was also happy to see his team carry on from the winning ways which saw them reach the URC play-offs for the first time last term.

“That first game of the season feeling is like ‘Where are you?’. So to come away with that victory is carrying on with that momentum.

“With derbies, you obviously take it, so I am happy.

“Everyone who came on made a difference, so that was good.”

Cardiff trailed three times during the game, but kept responding and sealed their win with a 65th-minute try from replacement hooker Evan Lloyd.

Captain Liam Belcher said: “It was one of those first games of the season kind of games.

“It was a scrappy game for both teams. We had a few opportunities in the 22 we let ourselves down on, but it’s not an easy place to come first game of the season, a Welsh derby. You take the four points all day.

“I am proud of the boys for the effort they put in. There are a lot of things to work on, but we’d rather do that off a win than a loss.”

The Player of the Match award went to Cardiff’s No 8 Taine Basham who scored a try and was the game’s top carrier with 17.

He said: “Coming into it, we wanted to express ourselves, but it was a wet ground. We probably didn’t put our best foot forward and there is plenty to work on, but it’s a sign of a quality team to go out there and win in these tough conditions.”

Young excels in Dragons draw

Thomas Young produced one of the performances of the weekend as the Dragons secured a dramatic draw with Benetton Rugby out in Treviso.

Starting on the openside flank and then moving to No 8, Young made 20 tackles, 10 carries and won three turnovers to pick up the Player of the Match award.

He may be 34 now, but he remains one of the best in the back-row business and is clearly benefiting from coming into the season fully fit and firing.

The former Cardiff and Wasps star came tantalisingly close to being on the winning side only for Tinus de Beer’s last-minute conversion attempt to come back off an upright, meaning the game ended honours even at 19-19.

Young, who was co-captain on the night, said there were mixed feelings in the camp after the visitors had fought back from 19-7 down at the break, with centre Fine Inise and hooker Elliot Dee adding to De Beer’s earlier try.

“The first half we couldn’t really get the ball and our discipline marched them up the field,” he said.

“Second half, we were a lot better and we showed a lot of character, but there is frustration at the performance too.

“We’ve worked a lot on our game in pre-season and we want to move the ball a fair bit. We showed glimpses of that.

“But silly errors and discipline in certain parts of the field cost us. We need to look at ourselves.

“We’ve got a big month coming up, a big block coming up. We know we have got to get some wins and that is something we are looking to do.”

Head coach Filo Tiatia said: “We gave a lot of opportunities to Benetton at the start of the game.

“We gave a lot of possession and territory and they scored a couple of tries from mauling and ill-discipline.

“The mentality for the boys to stay in the fight was good. We fought hard, we defended well and we took our chances. We have just got to be a little bit more clinical.

“Sometimes to win games it is left on kicking opportunities, but it has hit the post. It could have been, but instead we take the draw and move on.”

As for the Ospreys, they lost 41-24 to the Sharks in Durban but did pick up a losing bonus point through scoring four tries.

Their head coach Mark Jones said: “We were just too slow at the start and there were too many errors, but there was an awful lot of good to come out of the game.

“We have come away from a traditionally tough place to come with a point, which is a bonus.”

South Africans and Scots celebrate amid away-day delight

The opening round of the new URC season saw a clean sweep for South Africa and Scotland, while it was a rare winless weekend for Ireland.

It’s actually the first time since 2009 that all four Irish sides have lost on the first weekend of the league campaign.

In a further rarity, there were just two home wins from the eight matches, bucking the traditional trend in the competition.

One of those solitary successes on home soil was recorded by the 10Bet Lions who claimed a notable scalp by beating reigning champions Leinster Rugby 27-26 in Johannesburg.

The Player of the Match prize went to their two-try wing Erich Cronje who said: “It’s always a tough game against Leinster. We knew we had to be at our best.

“Luckily we got it through and we take the win.

“All credit to the team. We are all fighting for each other and that’s how you win competitions.”

For Leinster, there was the sizeable consolation of two losing bonus points thanks to an 85th-minute try from hooker Stephen Smyth which added to a first-half hat-trick by No 9 Fintan Gunne.

South Africa’s successful weekend had begun with the DHL Stormers claiming a 29-15 bonus-point victory over Connacht Rugby in Galway on Friday night.

Coach John Dobson said: “To come to a place like this without our internationals and win is very special.

“We have a lot of respect for Connacht and this venue. It’s a tough place to win, so we are very happy.

“I thought we deserved to win. Territorially we were spot on.”

There were further bonus-point wins for the Hollywoodbets Sharks and the Vodacom Bulls on Saturday, with the Sharks defeating the Ospreys 41-24 in Durban and the Bulls running in six tries as they beat Zebre Parma 47-13 out in Italy.

As for the Scottish sides, they both secured maximum points on the road with Edinburgh Rugby winning 34-29 against Ulster Rugby in Belfast and Glasgow Warriors coming from behind to defeat Munster Rugby 26-20 in Limerick.

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