Posted by Rewind almost exactly eight months and if you had told Corey Domachowski and Keiron Assiratti that they were going to make their debuts for Wales in a Rugby World Cup warm-up against England at the Principality Stadium, I suspect they’d have laughed you out of the building.
New Year’s Day saw Cardiff host the Ospreys at the Arms Park. Starting on the loosehead was Rhys Carre, as he had for the majority of the games so far in the season, leaving Corey Domachowski wearing 17 for the 9th league game in a row.
On the tighthead, despite Dillon Lewis and Dmitri Arhip both being sidelined, it wasn’t Keiron Assiratti who started but Will Davies-King, with the more experienced prop coming off the bench having not started a first team game since April 2021.
Move ahead to Judgement Day on the final weekend of the campaign though and it was all change. Domachowski had started seven of the previous eight games, including six-in-a-row, while Assiratti had started eight of the previous 10 games, including five-in-a-row. The Rhondda Wreckers had arrived and weren’t looking back.
April’s win over Sale Sharks in the European Challenge Cup round of 16 was a seminal moment for Domachowski and Assiratti. On a night when a lot of eyes were on the Arms Park, they announced themselves as genuinely top class scrummagers, first and foremost, as well as technically excellent all-round rugby players.
That Sale pack arrived as expected favourites at the set piece. They were physical and, crucially, very heavy. England internationals Bevan Rodd, Jonny Hill and Ben Curry started, as did Springboks Dan and Jean-Luc Du Preez, as well as hugely experienced South Africans Akker van der Merwe, Nick Schonert and Jono Ross. It was daunting.
Yet Domachowski and Assiratti did not take a backwards step all night. Five penalty wins, including one against the head, was the headline from a dominant scrummaging performance that really saw the wider Welsh rugby public sit up and take notice of the former Rhondda Schools Rugby men. And they offer so much more on top of that.
Corey Domachowski is raw power. 120 kg of prime Gilfach Goch beef who has immense size and power across his chest and upper body, as well as a seriously strong core, but retains a pace and mobility though his hips and legs that allow him to get around the field with ease.
His engine is second-to-none, but what he’s added over the course of the last six months is a timing and a game understanding that allow him to be effective over the ball in defence, and as a major influence on the carrying game. He made 52 carries in the United Rugby Championship last season, and got over the gain line 20 times, impressive numbers.
At 26 Doma is developing into the epitome of the modern loosehead prop, a powerhouse scrummager who can contribute to all facets of the game. As he progresses into the international arena the sky is the limit, and it wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see him wearing 1 in Bordeaux on the 10th September.
Like his propping pal, Assiratti retains a huge amount of strength through his chest and upper body, but unlike Domachowski he’s a bit shorter and less noticeably athletic. What he does have though is the perfect profile to bustle through gaps or weak shoulders in defences, and handling skills to capitalise on those.
A low centre of gravity, good body height around contact and a surprising turn of pace allow him to make his mark on the carrying game, either by going himself or drawing defenders and popping the ball away just ahead of the tackle. There’s a reason he was briefly covering hooker for Cardiff last year, because his skillset lends itself to distributing the ball well.
From a Wales perspective there’s a gap there for Assiratti, where Tomas Francis and Henry Thomas as the stronger scrummagers, and Dillon Lewis as the more mobile option. Also 26, but with less minutes under his belt than the loosehead, his opportunity is there to impress the next week, but the best is still very much to come.
Two players who have had to battle all the way through their career; to make it into the professional game, to make it into the Cardiff first team, and then to earn the recognition their talent deserves. Now they have the chance to make their mark in a test match against England at the Principality Stadium. A terrific opportunity and one they should enjoy knowing they have deserved it whatever happens.
Cardiff Rugby Life 