Posted by When describing Cardiff’s 2023/24 season as a season like no other, that encompasses both a prayer that we never see another campaign like it, and a hope that we maintain so much of it.
It’s been a year of takeovers, turnovers, hardly anyone turning up to training, and, most notably, a remarkable amount of bonus points. There’s been incredible atmospheres, moments of frustration, but overall an overwhelming positivity.
The story of last summer has been told a million times, and in the same way as the distance a prop scoring a try from gets greater with each recounting of the score, the amount of Blue & Blacks who arrived for pre-season last June decreases with each retelling. I’m sure there’s a version somewhere where Matt Sherratt and Richie Rees were just kicking a ball to each other.
Against the backdrop of uncertainty around who would be leading the rugby department, players unclear on if they would be offered renewed contracts, and the recruitment of new players into club, preparations for 23/24 could hardly have been taking place under a darker cloud.
It wasn’t until early August when Sherratt was appointed Head Coach, leaving the former Attack Coach two months to get a coaching ticket and playing squad in place, even before considering styles of play and the physical readiness of the squad. One thing he did get right straight away though, and that continued through to the end of the season, was his messaging.
From the get-go he spoke about the focus being on developing young players and getting them playing an exciting brand of rugby. It was clear that results would be hard to come by, but those metrics would be the ones that Jockey and the Blue & Blacks were to be judged on, and in that sense the season has been an unmitigated success.
Eight players aged 23 or under have played 12 or more games in all competitions, with seven of those going on to be involved in either Cymru’s Six Nations or Summer Internationals squads, or both. Theo Cabango likely would have joined those ranks but for injury, while Ben Donnell and Gabriel Hamer-Webb both played a high percentage of games they were at the club for.
And they played some brilliant stuff. In attack Cardiff were ambitious without being reckless, fostering a culture where the young players felt confident and able to express themselves, learn from mistakes and improve week-in, week-out. It was successful, to a degree, with a string of close games early on, before a good run from mid-November through to the New Year saw wins over Stormers and Dragons, and a draw away at Zebre.
In amongst that was the Investec Champions Cup pool stage which presented some unbelievable opportunities for the young playing group to experience playing against top level opposition on the biggest stages. Going to Toulouse was predictably one-sided, while Harlequins pulled away late-on at the Arms Park, but Bath at our place and Racing in Paris were seriously competitive games.
That Bath fixture in particular was one to remember for a long time with CAP packed to the rafters for a titanic Anglo-Welsh battle, sparking a run of four consecutive sell-out crowds for the Blue & Blacks as supporters turned out in their thousands to see this next generation of talent playing exciting rugby against interesting opposition.
It was also the night that Helford Capital, fronted by Phil Kempe and Neal Griffith, announced they had agreed to acquire a majority stake in Cardiff Rugby Limited, subject to an EGM which took place in January. That secured the future of the club following the sad passing of Peter Thomas, and already they have set about investing in the development pathway, coaching and infrastructure.
The news has not been totally positive this season though. Rhys Carre and Tomos Williams leaving for Saracens and Gloucester, respectively, are undoubted blows, while the retirements of Josh Turnbull and Ellis Jenkins leave a significant hole in terms of quality, leadership and experience. The effect of Williams departing, in particular, has been seen after the URC restarted post-Six Nations.
Battling performances at Munster, Glasgow and Ulster, as well at home against Edinburgh, perhaps lacked that spark in attack but there were signs of encouragement as a poor 14-man Sharks side were put to the sword before the showing against Ospreys at Judgement Day was one of the better performances across the campaign.
In the end though there was always the bonus points – 14 of them to be exact. Four them coming from scoring four tries, with a huge 10 courtesy of being within seven points of the opposition in defeat. With a losing bonus point also being taken from the Bath game it left Cardiff with 11 losing bonus points from 17 defeats in all competitions. A remarkable statistic.
The Blue & Blacks achieved everything that was set out by Sherratt at the start of the season, and were clearly a better side come the end of the year than at the start of proceedings. Yet while results were not the focus, they give hope that turning exciting young players and encouraging performances into wins is not a million miles away.
All-in-all a bizarre campaign in many respects, which from a purely binary win/loss point-of-view is absolutely horrendous, yet with all added context alongside actually living it, one of the most enjoyable years as a Cardiff supporter.
#TrustTheProcess
Cardiff Rugby Life 