Posted by With the natural cycle of a Senior Academy group coming through together added to the sudden promotion of young players to the first team at Cardiff last season, 2023/24 was quite a lean year for the club’s next generation.
Financial belts were severely tightened, a few prospects were tempted away over the Severn Bridge, and focus switched to a new group of players to step up for 2024/25, with a Junior Academy set up to help develop them ahead of leaving school or college.
However, of the few main members of the Senior Academy, one in particular continues to catch the eye as Lucas De La Rua has been impressive for Cardiff RFC and Cymru D20, with the back rower now preparing to be an important figure for the latter at the World Rugby U20 Championships.
Without the fanfare of a Whitchurch High or Ysgol Glantaf, Corpus Christi High School continues to churn out professional rugby players from their corner of north-eastern Cardiff. Callum Sheedy, Rhys Carre and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso have all passed through the corridors in recent years, and De La Rua appears to be the next cab off the rank.
The question for many might be around what specific position the 19-year-old will excel at, but in truth there is no rush to pigeon-hole him into any jersey. The back rower has the skillset to be a genuine 6, 7 and 8 option, starting with his jackal threat.
Particularly in that second clip, on his first senior professional start at the Arms Park against Bath in the Investec Champions Cup, he is brave to get over the ball in kick transition, but times it perfectly the disrupt the away side’s ball and the loose possession is eventually hacked on and leads to a Josh Adams try.
At just over six feet tall, and continuing to nudge the scales beyond 100kg, he’s not a small man but has beautiful jackal technique, combining that with serious leg strength, and it is that strength which also makes him a danger when he gets the ball in his hands.
De La Rua’s 38 carries in the U20 Six Nations were the joint-11th most across the competition as he got through plenty of work despite many games where Cymru D20 had to make do with minimal possession and territory. Clearly he has power through contact, but the line picked in the final clip against Bath is an absolute beauty.
Cardiff, and Cymru to a slightly lesser extent, are always on the look out for additional ball carrying options, and the former Cardiff & Vale College man certainly fits that bill.
As well as that though, he retains a point of difference at the lineout, where he is a genuine lineout jumper. In the modern game it is key to have a well-rounded skillset, we’ve seen Morgan Morris overlooked regularly by the national team with his lack of lineout work noted, but De La Rua is a more than capable tail jumper.
Looking at that final clip it is such a crucial lineout steal on the Rags’ own five-metre line, while the first clip is a perfect piece of skill to dispossesses the RGC jumper without being pinged for making contact with the jumper in the air.
What has noticeably aided De La Rua’s development beyond his physicality and skillset is his ability to read the game. With good experience at WRU College League, Cymru D18, Welsh Premiership, Cymru D20 and into the first team, where he has faced the likes of Toulouse and Leinster as well as Bath.
This stands him in good stead on both sides of the ball as he is able to track and support line breaks, while also be a key man in scramble defence, getting back to make good cover tackles.
De La Rua’s workrate, combined with that game reading, gets him around the field to make repeated impacts on proceedings. As well as being joint-11th on the ball carrier list for the U20 Six Nations, he is also joint-fifth on the tackles made list with 66 across the five games where he started in the 6, 7 and 8 jerseys.
The Cardiff man still has plenty to learn, and plenty of time to learn it in, with the arrival of Dan Thomas alongside Thomas Young and Taulupe Faletau giving him plenty of experience to pick the brains of, as well as new Forwards Coach Corniel van Zyl.
He has a high base and a high ceiling though, and alongside a seriously strong back row corps containing Ryan Woodman, Morgan Morse, Harry Beddall and Owen Conquer, he could make some statement impacts on the World Rugby U20 Championship this summer.
Cardiff Rugby Life 