Posted by The history of Cardiff Rugby is littered with iconic scrum-halves, both at the Arms Park and on a worldwide scale; Terry Holmes, Rob Howley, Willie Morgan, Howard Poole, Brynmor Williams, Rex Willis, Lloyd Williams and, of course, Gareth Edwards.
With Lloyd having moved on over the summer though, and Tomos Williams’ availability to the Blue and Black jersey restricted due to his international commitments, the time has come for a new era of scrum-half to emerge at the club.
Fortunately that new era is ready to take it’s chance and has two exciting talents preparing to battle for the nine jersey as Ellis Bevan and Jamie Hill begin the 2023/24 campaign as Matt Sherratt’s scrum-half options with no new additions to the position in the off-season.
For both players it presents the end of a long road to regular first team rugby, both in terms of getting senior professional contracts and then biding their time down the pecking order and through injury in some cases as Lloyd and Tomos dominated the on-field minutes for the best part of the last six years.
Hill, the slightly older of the two at 24, was initially not offered an Academy contract upon graduating the U18 set up, but impressed enough when turning out for the University of South Wales and Pontypridd to be offered a deal as well as a call-up to the Wales U20 squad in 2019. A Cardiff debut came in the final game pre-covid and a run of appearances followed when rugby returned, but a torn achilles sidelined him for the majority of last year.
Bevan, 23, was identified through the Wales Exiles programme having grown up in Solihull, and attended Cardiff Met where he played BUCS Super Rugby. A Wales U20 call-up in 2020 was followed by a contract from the Blue and Blacks and he made his debut in the Rainbow Cup a year later. A regular with the Rags for two years, he made the step up to make more consistent first team bench appearances last season.
As players, although they both share a philosophy as a heads-up attacking scrum-half who likes to control the tempo of games and make things happen individually, their approach to that philosophy is very different largely due to their differing paths to this point and their physical attributes.
At 5’10” and closer to 80kg, Hill is the slightly smaller of the two men and has a more classic scrum-half style about him. There are shades of a young Lloyd Williams with his delivery from the base and his main weapon of a show-and-go that sees him threaten the fringes, while also retaining a strong game management capability with an excellent left-foot.
Having spent longer in the development pathway in Wales it’s a generally more conventional approach to the game that Hill has, which complements Bevan well.
Standing at around 6′ and pushing 90kg, Bevan is a more physically imposing scrum-half. The natural comparison is Mike Phillips as a more unconventional player who embraces the physicality of the game, tests defences around the fringes and into midfield, and thrives when the game loses structure and space opens up.
Coming through the University game in BUCS Super Rugby, and specifically at Cardiff Met, that individuality within an attacking system is encouraged and he’s carried that through his first team career so far, playing with a level of confidence that lifts the team when he’s on the field.
Both players have the quality to have long careers at the Arms Park, and this season is their springboard towards that. It’s an exciting time to introduce two new scrum-half options in the matchday 23 on a consistent basis. They’re exactly the type of players that the club should be building the next few years around.
The task for Matt Sherratt is to get the team selections right in order for the right scrum-half to be on the field at the right time, but with Jockey, Richie Rees and Tomos around the place I’m sure they will both take their chance and continue to improve over the next 12-24 months, with the supporters right behind them.
Cardiff Rugby Life 