Posted by There was a moment where it seemed this week’s View From the South Terrace could just be copied and pasted from any of the last 10 Cardiff wins over Dragons at Rodney Parade.
An 80-minute slog where the Blue & Blacks were largely ahead or at least it felt like they were going to win the game, but at the same time were never comfortably in the lead or cruising at any point. A 20th overall, and 21st league, victory over our closest rivals in a row, but still not a convincing scoreline.
In fact, despite the domination in terms of the win/loss column, you have to go all the way back to September 2012 for the last time a Cardiff side won by double figures in Newport at the professional level. A try from Alex Cuthbert and 11 points from the boot of Rhys Patchell were enough for a 5-16 win that day, meaning Dragons have won this fixture more recently than a 10+ point Cardiff win.
What’s the reason for that? Difficult to say. There’s the Welsh derby element in which form goes out of the window and the extra meaning behind the game raises the stakes and causes a level of anxiousness to creep into the play, and there’s undoubtedly been issues with the weather and surface at Rodney Parade over the years which have prevented any scorefests.
There could also be an accusation of Dragons trying to drag Cardiff into an arm wrestle of a game, knowing their squad is under-funded and has less quality so feeling that is the only way to get a result, while on the flip side there have certainly been occasions when the home side were arguably the better on the day but a mental block has developed around this fixture which has seen them throw a win away.
A mix of some or all at different points but the game followed a similar path to its predecessors on Friday as the Blue & Blacks once again ground out a result in a game that lacked quality but still retained a level of intrigue throughout.
It was all forward focused for the first three tries as Alex Mann was the beneficiary at the back of an early driving maul, then Taulupe Faletau crossed from close range after Corey Domachowski’s clever pop pass from the base, and finally Dan Thomas was on hand to grab Mann’s identical pop pass from a yard out. A clever little variation after simply picking-and-going wasn’t yielding much in the way of an end product.
Dragons had threatened in between the scores, Brodie Coghlan grabbing a maul try of his own and the hosts knocked at the door on a number of occasions but Cardiff held firm in repelling them and dealing with the somewhat overly fussy refereeing style of the Italian official.
The game was there to be won but it took the only real occasion where the backs got going to finally make it relatively safe when Josh Adams came across from his right wing to the left in order to create the overlap and release Tom Bowen. The speedster beat one man but was pulled down short before Danny Southworth got the score from close range.
It’s the second week in a row that the back line hasn’t really got going. Over the first two rounds the Blue & Blacks made 20 line breaks, but these last two rounds have yielded just 14 from two seemingly easier fixtures as injuries, suspension and general rotation have seen the chopping and changing of key combinations.
The focus on Friday was on Jacob Beetham at outside centre, a position that many have suggested he switch to since it became clear we’d be short of cover in the 13 jersey. He undoubtedly has the attributes to be a success in the position, and he showed that at times with his carrying and defensive work, but ultimately it’s a big change and he largely ended up playing as a 12.5.
This killed the width on offer to the Cardiff attack and made it quite easy for the Dragons to sit in midfield and soak up any route one carries, before drifting and closing down the space for Bowen, Adams and Cam Winnett in the wide channels.
Still though, Corniel Van Zyl’s men found a way to win for the second week in a row, and it is that which is the main takeaway, rather than the style of the victory necessarily. Yes, both performances had similarities in terms of their resilience and grit, but it’s hard to say this is a new way of playing for the Blue & Blacks when this fixture has demanded this forward-centre hard graft approach for over a decade.
This group of players seem to have a mental strength and a composure about them to deal with parts of games not going their way, ride out any momentum the opposition have and then work out a way to come away with the points. That is a very impressive trait that is testament to the settled nature of the playing group, the leaders within the squad and the culture the coaching staff have helped create.
16 points from a possible 20 is a great return from this first fixture block so far, now it’s all eyes on Edinburgh at home next week to head into the Autumn Internationals in real style.
Cardiff Rugby Life 