Posted by It’s fair to say that the middle part of the Super Rygbi Cymru season has been a bit of a slog for Cardiff RFC, but the resilience of the squad has ensured the campaign as a whole stays on track.
After the first block of fixtures saw Dan Fish’s side sit top of the league after seven wins and just a solitary defeat away at Carmarthen, the looming run of fixtures across December and January were always likely to provide a much sterner test for the Rags.
Playing the likes of Pontypool, Ebbw Vale, Llandovery and Newport twice, all there or thereabouts at the business end of the SRC, is a tough run by any standards. Mix that with the disruptions the Blue & Blacks have faced over the last two months or so, and to be second in the table just a point behind the leaders is a very good return.
Those stumbling blocks start with postponements. A home fixture against RGC was canned in advance due to impending bad weather, but the away game at Llandovery being called off as the players stepped off the bus in North Carmarthenshire was tough to take, preventing even a training session to be put on in its place. Momentum was hard to come by.
Then there’s injury and unavailability. Cymru D20 held a training camp and warm-up fixtures for the U20 Six Nations with Scotland U20 in the two weeks prior to Christmas, with Evan Rees, Sion Davies, Harri Wilde, Steff Emanuel, Elijah Evans, Osian Darwin Lewis and Kodie Stone all involved. That was repeated after the festive period too as the 20s took on a Welsh Academies U23 side.
Tom Bowen has been involved in the Cardiff first team squad over the last month, while the likes of Sean Moore, Dewi Cross and Matty Young have all had spells sidelined, joining the long-term injury absentees Tom Habberfield and Cam TylerGrocott. A significant chunk of the squad, and regulars in the starting XV during that first block of fixtures, all missing for periods of time.
From the defeat to Ebbw Vale to the win against Swansea, Fish has been able to call on just one member of the first team squad, young Rhys Barratt, and nine Academy players. Earlier in the season there was an average of 7.5 Academy members per 23, putting the total of nine players across four games into context.
It’s meant a reliance on the semi-professionals in the squad, as well as turning to the permit system, to bolster things. After a tough start away at Ebbw and then falling to Newport at home, they bounced back brilliantly to secure a huge 30-36 win on the road at Newport between Christmas and New Year, and back that up with a battling 32-22 win over Swansea at the Arms Park.
We know about the quality of Alun Rees, Sean Moore, Craig Hudd and Nathan Hudd in the spine of the pack, but the backs have stepped up well with Ethan Lloyd in great form since returning to the club at scrum-half, Jason Harries and Luke Pollock being consistent and positionally versatile through the three-quarter line, and Joe Goodchild a rock in the back three.
That semi-pro element of the squad will stay at the centre of attention for now as the SRC Cup kicks off at the end of the month, starting with a trip to Llandovery on January 25th. It’s an opportunity for them to stake their claims for more minutes in the season run-in with the play-offs on the horizon, and to earn some silverware for themselves.
Crucially though this next block also features the re-arranged games against RGC and Llandovery, huge fixtures to set up a tilt at topping the table come the end of April.
Uppa Rags!
Cardiff Rugby Life 