Posted by There’s been a whole host of high profile player departures from Cardiff this summer as the wild circus that is Welsh rugby causes players to head for pastures new or decide the hassle of professional rugby isn’t worth it.
Homegrown talents Dillon Lewis and Jarrod Evans, future star Max Llewellyn, stalwart Lloyd Williams and the injury-enforced retirement of world class Josh Navidi have all dominated the headlines, alongside the unfortunate plight of Dmitri Arhip and Willis Halaholo. Slightly further under the radar though a legend of the Blue and Blacks decided to hand up his professional boots.
Kris Dacey has been a rock at the Arms Park since properly breaking into the first team during the 2012/13 season having been a late convert from a bullish number eight as a 20-year-old at Pontypridd, to a powerful and abrasive hooker making his Cardiff debut at 21.
With Gareth Williams and T Rhys Thomas still at the club at the time of his conversion, as well as Andi Kyriacou and Matthew Rees joining soon after, the Merthyr man had plenty of excellent mentors to assist his shift into the front row which, when combined with his natural skillset, produced some devastating results.
Undoubtedly Kris Dacey will be best remembered by the Cardiff faithful for his try scoring prowess, with his trademark flowing locks regularly seen breaking defensive lines or peeling off the back of driving mauls to touch down.
Some will say that the hooker can get an easy ride at the back of a maul from close range, but the Blue and Blacks have never been a dominant mauling outfit so it came down to the skill and awareness of Dacey to position himself correctly and often break away from the maul at just the right moment to cross the whitewash.
And his scoring record only underlines just what a strength this was, alongside his ball carrying. 34 tries in all competitions for Cardiff, five seasons with five or more tries, the most tries for a forward in the club’s professional era and the fifth highest try scorer overall since 2003. A quite remarkable set of statistics, especially considering a lot of the early part of his career came during the barren years of Phil Davies and Mark Hammett.
With his back row engine also seeing him get through a serious amount of work in defence and at the tackle area, and his lineout throwing improving all the time, it was no surprise that Dacey was widely considered to be right up there with Richard Hibbard, Ken Owens and Scott Baldwin in the hooker ranks for Wales, winning eight caps between 2015 and 2017.
From a Cardiff perspective it is longevity and resilience that really elevate Dacey from a top player into the club legend bracket though, as he hangs up the boots in a professional sense sitting third on the post-2003 Blue and Blacks appearances list and a member of the 200 Club.
To achieve that despite a catalogue of injuries over the years, particularly around the time of the covid pandemic where a broken foot, dislocated shoulder and repeated calf injuries linked to a bulging disc threatened to force him to call time on his career, is quite remarkable and a testament to him and, no doubt, the support of his family.
A hero of Bilbao, with his pull-back pass ahead of Blaine Scully’s try and celebration when Garyn Smith won the crucial late turnover both important/iconic moments of the night, Dacey’s presence will be greatly missed around the Arms Park as a player, leader and fan favourite.
The next step sees him head on to Brecon, teaming up with old mate Dale McIntosh and brother Gavin Dacey as the South Powys side embark on a maiden season in the new Championship West. Listed as a hooker, flanker and centre, there’s no doubt the Merthyr man will be a success as the ultimate versatile option in community rugby. Pob lwc am dyfodol, Kris!
Cardiff Rugby Life 