URC Round 16 Review: Cardiff’s date with destiny

Simon Thomas 

Cardiff are determined to grab their “big opportunity” and make history by reaching the URC play-offs for the first time.

They have put themselves in a strong position with back-to-back Welsh derby victories over the Scarlets and the Ospreys taking them up to sixth in the table.

Now, with two games left to play, their destiny is in their own hands.

Having missed out on the play-offs by just a point last season, the motivation is all the greater to complete the job this time around.

The mood in the camp was summed up by second row Rory Thornton, a try scorer in Friday’s 24-21 victory over the Ospreys at a packed Arms Park.

“We said after the game, it’s a big opportunity now,” he revealed.

“We have got to be in the play-offs. I don’t want to jink it, but we want to aim for that. It is our goal.

“We have got a tough game against Glasgow away in two weeks time and then the Stormers home here, so that’s a good thing for us because we have talked all year about it being a fortress.

“With the atmosphere that is created here, we are a hard team to beat at the Arms Park and it’s a good opportunity for us knowing we have got that last game at home.

“Our final game last season was Stormers away. We couldn’t quite get the result we needed and that was a tough one.

“Hopefully, if it does come down to that last game, then we’ve got a really good opportunity. It’s in our hands really then to get into that play-off.”

Cardiff have now surpassed their points tally from last season (47) having won 10 of their 16 games to get up to 50 points.

“Reaching the play-offs has been a big focus of ours,” said Thornton.

“We talked about it from the start of the season as being something we should probably achieve more.

“So getting to the play-offs is a big thing for us.”

He added: “We really targeted these two derby games and I’m just proud of the boys that we got nine points from them.

“We owed both of them one, having lost to the Scarlets here and then losing to the Ospreys at the Brewery Field.”

Reflecting on his close-range first-half try, the 31-year-old lock said: “I think it was about 20 meters, wasn’t it!

“We put a big emphasis on speed. You could see that in that try. Johan (Mulder) took the quick tap and we were straight in there and just going for it.

“We were all about speed this week. That was a big message of ours and hopefully you could see that on the field.”

Having built a 24-7 lead with just 12 minutes to go, Cardiff then had to see off a late Ospreys revival to secure the spoils.

“I am just proud of the boys for fighting that out at the end,” said Thornton.

“The biggest thing we talk about is our fight and hopefully you can see that out on the pitch.

“We are quite tight as a group off the field as well. We try to stick together and have a good laugh.

“Whatever scenario we are, backs against the wall, with players missing, whatever it is we try to put it to the back of our minds and think about putting our game on the field. That’s the biggest focus.

“I am just glad the boys dug in at the end and were able to hold out.”

Giving his views, head coach Corniel van Zyl said: “We have played two derbies over the last two weeks and got nine points from them.

“If you had asked me before, I would have definitely taken that. I am just pleased we got over the line.”

On the play-off push, he said: “Last year, it almost felt like we were chasing from behind and trying to get in there.

“This season, we made a point of focusing more on week to week and trying to get points where we can.

“Being competitive in every game and getting a few more wins has put us in a better position.”

Cardiff went into the Ospreys match without 11 first teamers, including the likes of Josh Adams, Alex Mann, James Botham and Teddy Williams who could all return for the run-in.

“Hopefully we will have some players back over the next week or so and some of them will be available for selection,” said Van Zyl.

“Glasgow are obviously a quality team, but we will go there and give it a good shot.”

Challenged

For the Ospreys, who picked up two yellow cards and a 20 minute red for wing Dan Kasende, the defeat has ended their hopes of reaching the play-offs.

Their head coach Mark Jones said: “You can’t come to a team that has been going as well as Cardiff have been going and not keep 15 out there for the majority of the game.

“It definitely challenged us to manage those periods where we were down to 14 and 13. We burned a lot of energy in our own half.

“I have to say I thought Cardiff were just a little bit quicker to the punch everywhere, if I am honest. They just looked a little bit sharper and a little bit cleaner on things and executed a bit better.

“I think that’s probably why they have won so many tight games this year, because of their accuracy. You have got to give them credit for that.”

Dragons end long wait for away win

Tinus de Beer has outlined how a one in ten chance came off to help the Dragons claim a first league win outside of Wales in five years.

It was De Beer’s audacious flicked pass over his own head that put winger David Richards in for the try which secured a dramatic last gasp 19-18 victory over Zebre in Parma.

The decisive score came as the clock moved onto 82 minutes with the Dragons having pounded away in a final play which lasted more than three minutes.

It earned them their first away win in the URC since they beat the Scarlets in Llanelli in April 2022 while it was their first league success outside Wales since they defeated Connacht in Galway in October 2021.

South African fly-half De Beer, who also produced an instant flip pass in the build-up to Jared Rosser’s opening try, was named Player of the Match.

Giving his take on the winning score, he said: “I was thinking get the ball to Dai and if there was any chance of getting it to him with an overhead flick it might be the right time now.

“So I tried it and luckily it came off. It probably comes off once in ten! But it stuck this time, so I am happy with that.”

Reflecting on how the Dragons dug deep for the win at the death, De Beer said: “It’s what this team is about.

“We care for each other and you could see that out there. “We were down and out in some facets of the game, but we got together, we got a plan and we found a solution to win. We are happy with that.

“We showed some massive fight and we can just be massively proud of how we stuck it out and got the away win.”

Echoing these thoughts, head coach Filo Tiatia said: “There is a lot of grit and character in this group and that has been building for a long time.

“I’m really proud of the players for the resolve and resilience they showed to fight right until the end.”

It was the Dragons’ second victory in Parma in the space of 13 days following on from their EPCR Challenge Cup quarter-final win over Zebre a fortnight ago.

They will now be in good spirits heading into next Sunday’s Euro semi-final clash with Montpellier out in France.

“Semi-finals don’t come around often,” said De Beer.

“We will prepare well this week, we will work hard and we will crack on.”

Brave Scarlets

As for the Scarlets, interim Director of Rugby Nigel Davies was full of praise for his team’s efforts after their narrow 23-21 defeat to the Bulls in Llanelli where they were denied a famous win by a 79th minute Handre Pollard penalty.

“I am just delighted with the players,” said the former Wales centre.

“They were brave, they kept on going and we executed the game plan really well.

“We are gradually getting there, we are getting close. That was a real statement of intent for where this team is going. There was a lot of hope to take from that performance.”

Top two secure first play-off spots

The DHL Stormers and Glasgow Warriors have become the first teams to book spots in the URC play-offs, with seven sides now left battling it out for the other six places.

They both qualified in the wake of their top-of-the-table clash in Cape Town where the Stormers won 48-12 to leapfrog the Scottish outfit and take over as league leaders.

John Dobson’s team scored six tries, including one from 23-point fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, as they recorded a convincing bonus point victory in front of a 23,740 crowd.

There was a double inside the 15 first minutes from prop Ntuthuko Mchunu, with No 8 Evan Roos extending his lead as the league’s top try scorer this season by galloping over for his 11th.

The Player of the Match award went to loosehead Mchunu who touched down for the third game in a row.

He said: “We just wanted to make a statement, more for ourselves than anyone else.

“I am really proud that the boys went out, started strong and finished strong.”

Despite their defeat, Glasgow’s qualification for the play-offs was confirmed by results elsewhere.

However, it’s been a chastening two-game tour of South Africa for them as they left empty handed, having lost 54-12 to the Fidelity SecureDrive Lions in Johannesburg last weekend.

Their skipper Kyle Steyn said: “We came here and lost the key battles both weeks.

“We lost set-piece, we lost the kicking game and we coupled that with too many errors and ill discipline.

“Credit to both teams, they were pretty good at putting us away.”

But he added: “There’s no need to panic. It’s a long season and these things happen.

“We have got a week to regroup now and we’ve got two more games, so it’s just about sharpening up for that.”

The Lions are up to third having beaten Connacht Rugby 33-21 in the battle of the league’s two in-form teams at Johannesburg’s Ellis Park, with centre Henco van Wyk scoring a brace of tries for the second week in a row.

That’s now six wins on the trot for the Lions, who touched down five times in all for maximum points, with Connacht’s own six-match winning streak having now come to an end.

It looked as though champions Leinster Rugby were going to join the Stormers and Glasgow in booking a play-off spot when they led Benetton Rugby 26-19 with just nine minutes to go.

But there was to be late drama with fly-half Jacob Umaga landing a penalty with the last kick of the game to give the Italian hosts a 29-26 victory.

Benetton skipper Michele Lamaro said: “I told the boys to bring everything they had and there is absolutely no better way to end our home season than this.

“Leinster are a number one team, a very tough team, so you have to put them under massive pressure to win.

“At the very end of the game, we started to believe we could win it and that made a huge difference.”

It’s a result which has seen Leinster drop down to fourth, with Munster Rugby in fifth after beating Ulster Rugby 41-14 in Limerick, while Cardiff are sixth following their 24-21 win over the Ospreys.

You then have the Bulls in seventh courtesy of their dramatic 23-21 victory away to the Scarlets, with Ulster occupying the final play-off spot and Connacht three points behind them in ninth.

Both the Hollywoodbets Sharks and the Ospreys are now out of the running in the Race to the Eight, with the Sharks having lost 33-28 to Edinburgh Rugby on Friday night.

What’s coming next?

The league takes a break next weekend with the Investec Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup semi-finals occupying centre stage.

Leinster, Ulster and the Dragons will be flying the flag for the URC as they take on Toulon, Exeter and Montpellier respectively in the last four.

Then it’s back to league action for the penultimate round of the regular season on the weekend of May 8-9.

There are a series of clashes between teams in the top eight with Leinster hosting the in-form Lions, Ulster entertaining the table-topping Stormers and Glasgow at home to Cardiff.

Play-off hopefuls Connacht welcome Munster to Galway for a huge Irish derby, while the Welsh Shield will be decided by the outcome of the clash between the Ospreys and the Scarlets in Bridgend, with Cardiff currently three points clear of the Ospreys in the Shield table having played all their derbies.

Elsewhere in Round 17, it’s Bulls v Zebre, Sharks v Benetton and Dragons v Edinburgh.