Posted by A week is a long old time in sport! In just eight days Cardiff go from triumphant narrow winners over Lions at the Arms Park, to heartbroken narrow losers against Benetton in Treviso.
There’s a plethora of ways to view what took place on Saturday evening at the Stadio Monigo from a Blue & Black perspective. Focusing on the game itself, judging team selection and the competing priorities of battling on two fronts, and assessing the development of the squad as a whole from the summer of 2023 to now.
In terms of the game itself it was 100% there to be won. When Evan Lloyd broke off the back of a driving maul and powerfully battled over the try line for a deserved individual score with 12 minutes to go, Cardiff were firmly in the driving seat. However, what followed was a noticeably under-par period of skill execution and game management.
From Callum Sheedy’s missed conversion, to Evan Lloyd’s overthrown lineout, to a poorly setup maul and then a miscommunication between Alun Lawrence and Johan Mulder, on to a scrum penalty conceded at a crucial moment, it all opened the door for the home side to snatch victory with a Tomas Albornoz penalty with not long to go.
It’s difficult to say Cardiff deserved the win. If Matt Sherratt’s side had taken four points back to the plane then Benetton may well point to Toa Halafihi dropping the ball with a clear run to the try line as evidence that they cost themselves. It was nip-and-tuck throughout, but the visitors had certainly done enough to come away as worthy winners, only to let that slip away with an untidy final part of the game.
Having the confidence and mental resilience to execute in those pressure situations is something the whole squad needs to develop if we are to genuinely challenge for United Rugby Championship play-offs, we can’t just rely on a strongest 23 in games all internationals are available, while goal kicking is now something the coaches have to consider with Ben Thomas likely to return to the 12 jersey for the run-in.
That leads into team selection, with Jockey opting to rest and rotate a number of players; Liam Belcher, Keiron Assiratti, Josh McNally, Seb Davies, Taulupe Faletau, Ben Thomas and Rey Lee-Lo were all available to start as far as we’re aware, but were either on the bench or not involved in the 23.
In hindsight, knowing how poor Benetton were on the night despite having a very strong side out with plenty of Italian internationals and good quality overseas players, that could be a mistake in terms of getting into those URC play-offs. Of course nothing is certain, but would the Blue & Blacks have won with a full strength side out? A fair bet would be yes.
That victory would have gone a long way to securing that play-off spot, possibly only needing one more win from the final four games of the season; Ospreys at Judgement Day, Munster at home, and Stormers and Bulls in South Africa. Now it seems like an uphill struggle with at least two wins needed to even stand a choice of making the top eight.
Prioritising the Benetton game though would likely have meant neglecting the European Challenge Cup campaign. Jockey will have been acutely aware that if he had picked his strongest available team to play in Italy then he could not have backed that up against Connacht and then straight into a possible quarter-final away at Racing or Perpignan with the Ospreys and Munster games to come.
Resting and rotating for Treviso undoubtedly prioritises trying to advance in the Challenge Cup, and adds a bit of internal pressure on the trip to Galway next week, but also gives us the best chance of competing on both fronts. Going fully loaded last weekend would have given us very little chance of getting beyond the quarter-finals of Europe though.
That in itself underlines just how far Cardiff have come in the short space of time since the start of last season. This whole journey started against Benetton in October 2023 when the Blue & Blacks put out the strongest available side and fell 22-23 at the Arms Park. The visitors that night without all of their Italian internationals due to the Rugby World Cup.
Now, with a number of our squad rested and Benetton picking a very close to full strength 23, we were still only a point behind, this time away from home, and good value for a win. Some smart recruitment and the development of young players have kept us well on track, and we’re clearly a better all-round rugby squad now than we were 18 months ago, albeit with plenty of room for further improvement.
It’s tough in the moments after an agonising defeat, and no doubt the players were seriously hurting in the changing rooms afterwards, but the bigger picture offers plenty of comfort. That hurt can then be channelled into a chip on the shoulder ahead of the trip to Connacht this weekend.
We owe them one after a few years of hurt out in Galway, with tight games not going Cardiff’s way and some refereeing decisions not helping either. This time it’s a French referee and some calmer spring weather, both of which will hopefully level the playing field somewhat and allow Jockey’s side to put out some of their best rugby on the new plastic pitch at the Sportsground.
The pressure is on, now is the time to thrive on under it! #TrustTheProcess
Cardiff Rugby Life 