Posted by Of course I’m biased, but I’d argue that there are few better places to enjoy sport than a packed Arms Park on a European night under the lights in the Welsh capital, and what a night we were treated to last Saturday.
A 10,000+ crowd with a good contingent of away supporters for a big Anglo-Welsh clash in the Investec Champions Cup, 10 tries, 71 points, Frank Hennessy signing Cardiff Born Cardiff Bred live at half-time, and then just for good measure the news of the club being bought too. After the tumultuous, and at times desperately sad, calendar year that is coming to an end, it was a night of real hope.
On the pitch it was a superb game, and the Blue and Blacks were close to a shock victory over Bath who arrived in excellent form, sitting second place in the Gallagher Premiership. Where the attack struggled to be clinical in Toulouse it was flying against the English side, as Tomos Williams and Tinus De Beer combined to run a fluid attack, while Rey Lee-Lo’s re-introduction to midfield was a masterstroke.
The 37-year-old was at his classy best with some deft touches, including the pass that sent Josh Adams over for his first try of the night, and some blistering carries, aided by his centre partner Ben Thomas who has added some tackle busting carrying skills to his already developed passing and kicking repertoire.
Around that Cardiff went back to some staples of the attacking game that have been successful over the last decade, with a well worked first phase strike play securing the try bonus point and a turnover transition try coming just before half-time after a brilliant turnover from Lucas De La Rua. Working on those areas can bring a lot of joy with the players at our disposal.
Up front the set piece was solid and some big carrying performances from Mackenzie Martin, Teddy Williams and Liam Belcher provided a platform, but the downside of a younger pack was exposed by Bath who’s big ball carriers of Alfie Barbeary and Jaco Coetzee, complemented by Ollie Lawrence in the centre, were able to assert themselves physically.
It’s a conundrum for Gethin Jenkins as that physical development will happen over the next few years, but in the short-term a fix needs to be found, whether that comes from a renewed focus on the breakdown and slowing down the opposition on the floor, or bringing another level of line speed to meet ball carriers before they can gather momentum.
Off the field though it was a brilliant night that served as an interesting and timely of the strength of attractive fixtures on crowd numbers. And by attractive fixtures, I of course mean Anglo-Welsh fixtures.
Over December and January the Arms Park will host four first team games. Scarlets and Bath have seen crowds of 8,282 and 10,158 (via cardiffrfcfans.com), while the Boxing Day game against Dragons is heading for an 11,000+ attendance and the Champions Cup fixture against Harlequins next month will likely draw a strong crowd.
Compare that to the 6,000 average across the United Rugby Championship games against Benetton, Bulls and Stormers, and there’s a stark difference.
With new owners for Cardiff, new governance at the Welsh Rugby Union, and a general shift in northern hemisphere rugby towards a British and Irish League, driven by the investment from CVC, there is a quiet optimism that a move which could be hugely beneficial to Welsh rugby is indeed on the horizon.
Saturday night displayed the desire for these big Anglo-Welsh clashes is well and truly there among supporters on both sides of the Severn Bridge, and if they produce games like we saw between the Blue & Blacks and Bath then there will be plenty of happy punters.
For Matt Sherratt’s men focus now switches to welcoming the Dragons on Boxing Day where a good performance is required to return to winning ways and finish 2023 on a high.
#TrustTheProcess
Cardiff Rugby Life 