View from the South Terrace: Dragons (A)

It’s a comfort to know that despite all the upheaval across Cardiff and Welsh Rugby over the last 12 months, the Blue and Blacks beating the Dragons is still a foregone conclusion.

The latest in the incredible run of 17 straight league wins over our rivals to the east, 16 in all competitions, came on Sunday as Matt Sherratt’s men delivered a defensive and game management masterclass to banish the demons of Benetton last week and claim a big away derby win, and a first victory of the 2023/24 United Rugby Championship season.

Now, it’s important to caveat any review of the game at Rodney Parade with the fact that the Dragons were a particularly poor outfit on the day. Despite pre-season predictions of some improvement for Dai Flanagan’s men with a levelling of playing budgets, they seemed to lack quality and, crucially, any sort of confidence in their own ability to win on a rainy and windy Newport afternoon.

Having said that though, there was still a lot to like from a Cardiff point-of-view as the weather and the opposition were managed and negated perfectly, with Sherratt and the coaching staff delivering a tactical lesson that was executed to a tee by the players.

In the first half with the wind at our backs the Blue and Blacks kicked long regularly to pin the Dragons back inside their 10 metre line, winning kicking battles and beginning attacks from good field positions. Follow up chip kicks over the defensive line prevented the hosts from bringing too much line speed and being able to target breakdowns for turnovers.

Defensively it was organised and physical, batting the home side back and forcing them into errors such as kick passing towards the left wing to be charged down. Once Mason Grady takes off into open space it would take a particularly jet heeled individual to catch up to him.

Then the second half came and playing into the wind brought with it a switch to kicking to compete. Not necessarily winning the ball in the air, but being able to make an immediate tackle on the Dragons player receiving the kick and then going hard at the breakdown to force an error or win a turnover.

Territory naturally became harder to come by, but that defensive intensity remained and when joined by the breakdown focus saw the home side struggle to make much ground or look like crossing the try line, save for an unfortunate slip from Theo Cabango that Jared Rosser failed to take advantage of.

With five turnovers won at the breakdown, a further one coming from strong maul defence and the opposition making multiple errors as they tried to force line breaks and scoring opportunities, it never felt like Cardiff were going to give up control of the scoreboard. Tinus De Beer adding a big three points after a few misses only shored up the lead, as the away side conceded just nine penalties all game.

There are still work-ons for the Blue and Blacks, with the attacking game coming into focus this weekend. Particularly during the first half there was a significant amount of possession and territory that failed to produce points as the only try came from a defensive turnover. A clinical edge was lacking, but probably with good reason even in spite of the individual quality throughout the back line.

It’s likely that Tinus De Beer only met Tomos Williams and Mason Grady for the first time in the week building up to the game as they returned from international duty, while Willis Halaholo has only been training with the fly-half for a month or so maximum.

Add to that the fact that Halaholo is still returning from a serious achilles injury and heading towards 100% fitness after missing pre-season, Theo Cabango is only two competitive games in after nine months out, Cam Winnett was making just a sixth senior professional appearance and Aled Summerhill started for the first time in nearly 11 months, and it’s a back line with a lot of growth in it.

With the weather set to be similarly poor away at Scarlets next week there’s a good platform to build on for Cardiff, taking confidence from managing proceedings well and hopefully kicking on to claim a second Welsh derby win on the road in a week.

It would be some statement from this group. #TrustTheProcess