Posted by From the outside, developing rugby players looks like a nigh-on impossible job. Identifying talent before or during their major physical development, getting the mix between playing and training correct, exposing them to the right level of competition at the right time, managing the individual’s expectation and that of their family, warding off preying eyes.
There’s so much going on.
Take all that and double it, and that then seems to be the specific category of prop development. Getting young players in the right spot to progress as players and, particularly, as scrummagers. Being super patient with them on a physical level and not over-exposing them to senior professional rugby at a point where they may come up against an experienced campaigner who could end their career in an hour.
As a supporter I know I have been guilty at times of questioning why a young prop hasn’t been properly given a go in the Cardiff first team. It is an easy point to raise from the outside, but on the evidence of some now established senior props at the clubs the simple truth is that time is so important for men aiming to become the cornerstones of the scrum.
Breaking through during the 2016/17 season, Corey Domachowski seemed to the manor born as a loosehead, but by 2018/19 he found himself restricted to just 111 minutes of Blue & Blacks action. It was the 2017/18 season for Keiron Assiratti in terms of breaking through in senior rugby, however 2021/22 saw the tighthead get just 80 minutes of game time, 50 of those as an emergency replacement hooker.
However, as 2022/23 rolled around and both props settled into their mid-20s, something clicked. By the end of the campaign they were first choice in the Cardiff front row and selected for Cymru’s pre-Rugby World Cup training squad. Since then they have won a combined 20 caps at test level and continue to be a key part of the “Rhondda Front Row” at the Arms Park alongside Liam Belcher.
After that intro you may expect this piece to focus on Doma & Azza, but instead it sets me up nicely to take a look at Rhys Barratt, the 23-year-old loosehead who slotted in comfortably to the first team between Janaury and March.
Yet another product of Llantwit Fardre’s incredible conveyor belt of junior talent, Barratt has been on the radar as one to watch for a while. After impressing for Cardiff U18 and Coleg y Cymoedd he spent a year playing BUCS Super Rugby with Cardiff Met and as Cymru D20’s first choice prop, before making the step up to the Rags where he has turned out 44 times to-date.
A first team debut came last year during some very brief substitute appearances, but it wasn’t until coming off the bench against Lyon in the Challenge Cup before Christmas that he caught the eye, with a start away at Perpignan cementing his position as a serious talent coming through the front row pathway.
Up against a large pack put out by the French side he held his own for 50 minutes until fatigue started to hit the legs, and backed that up when retaining the number one jersey against Connacht, Sharks and Connacht again.
Barratt has displayed a physical edge to his game, carrying hard and hitting well in defence, allaying fears that he wouldn’t be up to that confrontational element of front row play so early in his career. Particularly against the Sharks, with their Springboks and huge South Africans, he was not overawed and battled hard in the tight.
There’s a reason beyond just his hair colour that he drew comparisons to Rhys Carre and that is due to the power and dynamism of his carrying game, popping up short off Dan Thomas in the first clip and sitting the defender down in order to secure good, quick ball for Cardiff to attack off.
That dynamism extends around his game as he pops up across the field to make little interventions that are beyond a lot of props.
The added x factor of a lovely touch for a big man in nudging the ball down the line for Johan Mulder to chase is purely a luxury extra!
Perhaps Barratt’s main skill evidenced over his run of games was his handling skills, something which Cardiff Rugby, and particularly Matt Sherratt as head coach, places a huge amount of emphasis on. Having forwards comfortable with ball-in-hand is key to the expansive attacking game.
The 23-year-old not only has sharp enough hands to flick the ball out the back from first receiver, he also has the vision and bravery to assess the defence and move the ball both inside and outside, as well as taking the ball to the line to draw a defender and make space for teammates.
To knit this all up from start to end though, Rhys Barratt is still very young for a prop. He’s only just turned 23 and has barely 300 minutes of senior professional rugby under his belt. Undoubtedly his run of games prior to picking up an injury away at Leinster was impressive and he produced plenty of moments that suggest he’s good enough to be a key member of the first team, but he will need time.
Domachowski and Assiratti were three years on from where the former Coleg y Cymoedd student is now before they properly established themselves in Blue & Black and started thinking about knocking on the door of the test team. With Doma, the increasingly shrewd looking signing of Danny Southworth and the experience of Ed Byrne, he won’t be needed to play week-in, week-out.
Once he’s fit again it’ll be back to individually progressing in the gym, in training and in the Rags for Barratt, but Cardiff Rugby can absolutely begin to get excited about the talent that he has.
Cardiff Rugby Life 