Squad building – It’s finally tight five time

Last time in part two of the squad building series, I cast an eye over the non-Welsh qualified (nWq) players in the Cardiff squad currently, amid a shift from using them to plug gaps in certain positions to targeted recruitment to improve performances.

With contracts coming to an end the conclusion is that there is scope for up to four free nWq spots in the squad that Head of Recruitment Darren Allinson and Head Coach Matt Sherratt might fancy filling up, while on a general level there will need to be recruitment to address departures, a lack of Academy prospects and a lack of depth in particular positions.

It’s been around 14 years now that Cardiff have realistically needed to properly address the shortfalls in the tight five. Since the likes of T Rhys Thomas, Gareth Williams, John Yapp, Paul Tito and Deiniol Jones, among others, all moved on after the dissolution of that successful 2008-2011 side they have never been suitably replaced.

There’s been glimpses of good first choice tight five selections, including in the current squad where Corey Domachowski, Liam Belcher, Keiron Assiratti, Josh McNally and Teddy Williams can go toe-to-toe with most opposition, but there has been a real lack of depth available in the Arms Park engine room for far too long now.

Along with a small uplift in budget, should negotiations with the WRU come to fruition, and space made in the existing budget with the departure of some current squad members, there should be a bit of wiggle room for Allinson and Sherratt to bring in new faces. The priority must undoubtedly be tighthead prop and second row.

At tighthead Assiratti is a more than capable first choice. He’ll be 28 at the start of next season, entering his prime as a prop forward, and should have at least 15 Cymru caps to his name. Behind him though there is a large gap in the squad as Rhys Litterick seems set to sign for Edinburgh and throw his lot in with his Scottish qualification.

Will Davies-King is the only other senior tighthead, who will be 27 over the summer and has yet to achieve a run of first team games, while Joe Cowell has been brought into the Senior Academy from Cardiff Met but is still a new convert across the front row from loosehead and will likely benefit from at least one more season of regular Rags rugby.

Behind them Harrison Rock and Callum Donoghue-Proud are new members of the Academy, only just out of school, and are a good few years away from making the step up to a senior professional environment.

As a result Cardiff need to be looking at bringing in two tightheads; with at least one being a nWq marquee-esque signing. If there’s big (relatively, of course) money to be spent anywhere then it has to be on a prop with a proven record that can come in and challenge Assiratti, bolster the scrum and add some depth to the tight five options.

Wales is suffering from a real lack of Welsh-qualified options at tighthead at the moment, with each pro club running at least one overseas-born player in the three jersey this season, so it may well be the case that both new signings should be nWq, but if there’s a suitable squad option or exile to slot into third choice on the depth chart then that would be ideal.

With the front row then looking in good health focus switches to lock where depth is also an issue. Teddy Williams has been a standout player for Cardiff this season and Josh McNally has been the signing of the season so far, but Teddy will be away with the Cymru squad more and more as his career progresses and McNally will be 35 at the start of the 2025/26 campaign.

Behind them Seb Davies continues to be a reliable option off the bench and stepping in to the starting XV when required, while Rory Thornton is a good squad player to have, particularly when it comes to lineouts and his steps into coaching with the Rags.

Tom Cottle joins the Senior Academy next season but will be a year or two off progressing to the first team with no other young locks currently contracted to the Senior Academy, Sonny McCabe is still in school and playing for the U18s. As such, a new face needs to be looked at to add depth and competition to the engine room, have an eye on replacing McNally and bridging the gap to hopefully seeing Cottle and McCabe coming through.

Ideally this too would be a nWq signing, adding bulk, experience and season-long availability to the pack, allowing Sherratt to rotate his squad and call on some size and quality through the periods of the campaign when the internationals are unavailable.

Cardiff have already been linked to the likes of Taine Basham and Ioan Lloyd during this recruitment window, and while those signings can make sense when viewed within the context of those position groups, they simply cannot come before bolstering the tight five. It does not make sense to get a quality topping on an undercooked pizza dough.

Rumours persist around the signings of new centres too, but as I’ll cover in the final part of this squad building series, the back line is an area of the Cardiff squad that does not need signings to get to the top level. Give it a solid base with tight five strength-in-depth, and there is plenty of exciting talent to take advantage of that.