Posted by If a scene were to be set of a dark, cold night at the Arms Park, with the wind swirling and the rain coming down, and a large Edinburgh pack were stood waiting to face Cardiff, then the majority of supporters in the terraces would naturally be overcome by a sense of foreboding.
Saturday evening was the kind of scenario where the Blue & Blacks would turn up and attempt to play rugby despite the conditions, have a bit of joy in the first half but eventually be ground down by a physical opponent choosing to revert to “up-the-jumper” rugby in the second half. Over the last decade or so that has become a sadly familiar tale.
Edinburgh had enjoyed four wins in a row over Cardiff prior to the fixture and it seemed that a fifth may have been on the way when the opening 40 minutes saw the hosts struggle as second best across essentially all facets of the game.
The Blue & Blacks could not establish any dominance in the air, giving up a lot of possession and territory as a result, were pummelled around the fringes and forced into missing too many tackles, and subsequently were forced on to the back foot reducing opportunities to win turnovers at the breakdown, allowing the visitors to score three tries.
Fortunately two smart attacking moments kept Corniel Van Zyl’s side in touch as the insanely energetic Taine Basham scooped up a loose ball to give Johan Mulder the chance to finish smartly in the corner, before a well-worked counter attack released Josh Adams down the right and the British & Irish Lion showed his class to exchange passes with Mulder and go under the posts.
It was at that point though where supporters may have feared the worst. If Edinburgh just come straight back out and double down on their directness then Cardiff could well be out of sight by the hour mark. Instead though it was the home side who made their mark in that respect, and once again it signalled a slight changing in how the Blue & Blacks are able to win games.
There was a battle past Connacht in a game where both teams cancelled each other out somewhat, then there was a battle past Dragons in a game which always gets dragged down to a lower level at Rodney Parade, and what we saw in the second half on Saturday night was a battle past the Scottish side as it was the Blue & Blacks who reverted to “up-the-jumper” stuff to dominate proceedings.
Javan Sebastian scored against his former club within a few minutes of the restart and then “Van Zyl Ball”, as it is very close to being coined, saw Cardiff largely control possession and territory for the remainder of the half. The pressure built eventual led to Edinburgh being pinged on the floor in a position where Ioan Lloyd could knock a nerveless penalty over from 46 metres with less than 10 minutes to play.
Lloyd was then joined by the experience of Aled Davies and Callum Sheedy at half back, and together they produced a tactical kicking masterclass to hold the one-point lead through to the end of the game having prevented the away side from scoring a single point after half-time and barely even allowing them to step foot in the 22.
This adaptability, physicality, and sheer grit that has slowly been revealed, along with a mental toughness that Cardiff sides have been missing for a while, was on full show in that second 40 at the Arms Park, buoyed by a vocal showing from the supporters who are buying into a team that wins in any way necessary, not just via some of the highlight reel rugby that has been played the last two years.
A fine way to finish a very successful first fixture block, and although tougher tests undoubtedly await through the course of the rest of the season, the foundations that have been built over the last month or so are solid, both in terms of points on the board and when it comes to the fundamentals that this team is basing themselves on.
It may not be as flashy as we’ve become used to, but damn it is effective, and long may winning continue – no matter what shape or form that comes in.
Cardiff Rugby Life 