Posted by If someone offered Dan Fish the chance for Cardiff to be sitting top of the Super Rygbi Cymru table by the November break with six wins from seven games and 34 points from a possible 42, I fancy he might have taken that!
After the battle that was last season I was certainly expecting the Rags to take some time adjusting with a new and young group of Academy players stepping up to senior rugby, as well as plenty of new faces joining the semi-professional squad that would need time to gel.
Yet here we are just over a third of the way through the league season and the Blue & Blacks have the best attack in the competition averaging 35.1 points and 5.5 tries per game, and the second best defence conceding an average of 17.8 points and 2.4 tries per game. Some quite remarkable statistics.
The always tricky trip to RGC, hosting sides like Ebbw Vale and Aberavon who have been strong in recent years, and taking on a resurgent Bridgend at the Arms Park have been negotiated with comfortable scorelines, while Carmarthen were easily swatted away in the capital. The only blight in the copybook is the loss at the Quins.
Of course the purpose of the Rags alongside being competitive is as a development vehicle, and that box has more than been ticked with five young members of the first team and 11 senior academy players getting game time so far, including the likes of standout players Rhys Barratt, Steff Emanuel, Elijah Evans, Tom Bowen and Matty Young.
With 38 players used in total by Fish across the seven games the average age is a remarkable 23 years old, exactly the sort of age profile that Super Rygbi Cymru is about. Remove the only two players over the age of 30, in Marc Thomas and Jason Harries, and that average falls to 22 years old.
Yet, despite all of the above, I can’t help but feel we are still not even seeing close to the best of this Cardiff side so far. Certainly not for sustained periods of games anyway.
Against RGC the Blue & Blacks were 12-0 up inside the first 20 minutes, then waited until the early part of the second half to go 24-12 up, before scoring the winning eight points in the last five minutes. Away at Swansea it was the 20 minutes before half-time where 14 points were scored, before 19 in a 10-minute spell midway through the second half.
It’s a similar story at home against Aberavon, where a scoreless opening quarter was followed by 14 points in the second quarter and the game won in a spell between 65 and 75 minutes, meanwhile against Bridgend there were 21 points in the opening 25 minutes, then 36 scoreless minutes, before 26 points in the final quarter.
Only at home to Carmarthen, where the scoring started in the 25th minute and was maintained for the rest of the game, bizarrely even in spite of a first half Nathan Hudd red card, did the side keep any sort of foot on the neck of the opposition.
That’s not been a particular issue so far. Due to the age, speed and fitness of the squad those short scoring salvos have been particularly devastating, and in the mean time Cardiff have been more than comfortable keeping the opposing side at bay and themselves in the contest.
However, tougher fixtures await. Five of the Rags’ next seven league games across November and December are against the sides currently placed between second and fifth in the table, including trips to Llandovery, Ebbw Vale and Newport. Going to those grounds and only dominating in short spells will be a much bigger challenge.
The beauty of that squad age profile is that the upward curve should be steep though. Young players learning and developing both individually and as a team under the watchful eye of a similarly young coaching staff who are learning and progressing with each week.
It’s a seriously exciting time to be a fan of the Blue & Blacks with the talent coming through the ranks, some of the attacking rugby they’re producing, and the results they are getting. The bandwagon is rolling along, get on board!
Cardiff Rugby Life 