Posted by It may seem on the surface of it that Cardiff now have an uphill task to qualify for the United Rugby Championship play-offs, but actually the Blue & Blacks are already there.
In a way that it seems only this club can, not only did Matt Sherratt’s side go down 45-21 at the hands of the Bulls in Pretoria on Saturday but every result elsewhere that could go against us, did. Munster, Edinburgh, Benetton and Scarlets all won their respective games, setting up a “round of 16”, if you will, against Stormers on Friday night.
A win in Cape Town will secure a play-off spot no matter what for Cardiff, as Benetton and Munster can’t both win considering they are facing each other, but a loss would likely see a quarter-final slip from the grasp as Edinburgh feel unlikely to lose against a poor Ulster side at home.
How did we get to this spot? In the last week it’s come from a really lacklustre first half at the Loftus Versfeld. The Blue & Blacks were struggling to even be second best as the half-time whistle blew, going in 31-0 down after an impressive display of pace, power and cutting edge from the Bulls who moved up to second in the league and all but cemented their place as the top South African side this season.
Jockey’s side were well off the pace. There was no discernible kicking strategy, far too many handling errors and missed tackles, a set piece under immense pressure and then the general challenge of performing at altitude in Pretoria which left some players running through treacle.
It seemed that the knowledge of how physical the Bulls were at the gain line had a knock-on psychological effect on the attack as a lot of the Cardiff play happened too far from the opposition defence to have any sort of impact. It was very lateral and passive, before generally ending in an error or a turnover, inviting more pressure on the defence.
There’s an element of team selection that plays into that. Tinus De Beer has hardly featured for the Blue & Blacks this season, playing just 232 minutes before Saturday and having not featured since March or started a game since January. Whether it was just to keep Callum Sheedy fresh, or because he previously played for the Bulls so knew the Loftus Versfeld, chucking him in to start was a risk that didn’t pay off.
That may well be the last time the fly-half features for the club before his summer switch to Dragons, and it’s a shame if so as it wasn’t his best performance before being hooked at the break. Hopefully the Arms Park faithful will still overwhelmingly remember him for the effort and commitment in his performances during 2023/24.
Looking back on the season it may well be that questions are asked of Sherratt’s team selection in some key games; Perpignan away as part of the Challenge Cup campaign, Benetton away at the start of this fixture block and now at the Bulls on Saturday. As it happens I don’t think it would have had much, if any, impact in Pretoria but not going full strength in these matches opens the door to criticism.
There’s no choice this weekend though as Cardiff head for Cape Town knowing a win is needed against the Stormers. Having lost to Connacht twice in two European shootouts, that was bounced back from with two huge wins against Ospreys and Munster, respectively, to give the Blue & Blacks a fighting chance of making the play-offs and, perhaps more importantly, qualifying for next season’s Champions Cup.
This would be the performance of the season to get the victory in South Africa, but back at sea level and against a side that laboured against bottom of the league Dragons for 40 minutes on Saturday there’s definitely a chance to pull off what would be a famous win.
It all comes down to Friday evening! #TrustTheProcess
Cardiff Rugby Life 