Posted by After 20 wins in a row in all competitions there hasn’t been a feeling of real dread going into a Cardiff v Dragons clash for some time from a Blue & Blacks perspective.
However, this Boxing Day presented a bigger knot in the stomach than others over recent years after Filo Tiatia’s side had seemingly turned a corner in their quest to actually wins games of rugby. The European Challenge Cup victory over Lyon was hard fought as they won a narrow contest they’d previously have lost, while the blowout United Rugby Championship over Connacht was a real statement of intent.
On the back of this there was definitely a sense that doom was impending as a 14-man Cardiff tried desperately to cling on to a three-point lead with the clock red and Dragons pounding at the door. They huffed and they puffed, but the hosts stood firm to make it 21-in-a-row across all competitions.
It was a hugely important win for the Blue & Blacks after the disappointment of the preceding week’s loss at the hands of Scarlets, and there was plenty to like; the defence was organised and restricted to the away side to living off scraps, the lineout was dominant, the aerial game was largely on top and, when actually getting going, the attack looked back towards it’s best.
Unfortunately though the final point on that list was not seen enough in what was another frustrating showing from an offensive point of view.
After the multiple scoreless 22 entries against the Scarlets prior to Christmas, once again there was a real lack of clinical edge from Cardiff when getting into the redzone. Rushed try line sets, over-complicated moves and some choreographed backs play allowed the Dragons a few get out of jail free cards and to target the 13 channel in the same way we’d seen in the previous round.
Despite having the possession and territory upper hand the Blue & Blacks only scored three tries with just four line breaks in arguably the worst attacking performance of the season so far. That’s not to say they didn’t deserve the win, enough was done in other facets of the game to get over the line, but it continues to raise questions for Jonny Goodridge & co to answer following the departure of Matt Sherratt.
What Jockey was so brilliant at, beyond creating and implementing this attacking style of play, was constantly tweaking and tinkering with things over the course of a season to prevent Cardiff being easy to read and pose questions to opposition defences that they are not prepared to answer.
That was evident at the stary of the season when new elements to the Cardiff attack were on display across the first few games; longer passes into the second and third man of forward pods before going out the back, working the inside shoulder of Callum Sheedy at fly-half and starting to build a pre-planned offloading game.
We haven’t built on that though so far this campaign and teams are beginning to find us out, particularly Welsh opposition who already know our strengths and weaknesses well on an individual level, and are starting to pick up on them at a team level as Sherratt implements his attacking philosophies on the national team to give national team squad members at our rivals an insight into the system.
Goodridge could consider a change in personnel; whether Johan Mulder needs to come back in at scrum-half to inject a greater speed of ball or whether a change at 13 could see Mason Grady or Cornel Smit preferred to Harri Millard for some added size to the back line. Jacob Beetham coming in for Cam Winnett could also assist with the latter.
Either way though there definitely needs to be a greater focus on staying agile through the season in order to maintain the incisiveness of the attack. It’s not just the attack that needs addressing prior to facing the Ospreys on New Year’s Day though, as two other issues raised their heads again on Boxing Day.
Firstly, at a very similar point of the game as we saw against Scarlets with roughly 60 minutes on the clock and with the opposition just having been shown a yellow card, Cardiff opted to turn down an extremely kickable penalty to go for the try. It’s just a baffling decision in a close game when three points are essentially guaranteed and you will get the ball back against 14-men from kick off.
In the end we did take three points a bit later, and that ultimately won us the game, but that failure to react to in-game changes in circumstance, build scoreboard pressure and properly take control of proceedings – by both the leaders on the pitch and from the coaches’ box – is a concern.
The second issue is the use of the 6/2 bench. For the second week in a row Corniel Van Zyl opted for the forwards focused imbalance among the replacements, and for the second week in a row did not bring all eight players off the bench, with George Nott remaining unused while Johan Mulder was only introduced right at the death.
In Nott’s case that may have been due to the lack of second rows at the club at the moment and wanting to protect him from injury, but there’s no confirmation of that raising the possibility that it was a tactical decision. Mulder, meanwhile, was held back in case Josh Adams’ shoulder injury got worse with the other back option – Jacob Beetham – having already come on for Harri Millard.
The result is that the bench lacks the full impact of all eight players being introduced in a timely manner across the second half and having maximum influence on proceedings. To churn out a cliche it really is a 23-man game now, so to handcuff ourselves to effectively 21 men because of a 6/2 bench seems to be a case of unnecessary self-harm.
It feels a bit reactionary to write a piece with a somewhat negative/concerned tone after a Boxing Day derby win, but after the disappointment of that Scarlets defeat the New Year’s Day clash with Ospreys is now a massive game. Win and we’re right in the hunt for the play-offs, lose and it’s staring down the barrel of just a 50% win rate in the URC during this fixture block.
Away from home against a team we’ve historically struggled against and in an environment at the Brewery Field which doesn’t necessarily lend itself to Cardiff’s style of play, the Blue & Blacks will need to up the levels significantly.
That’s not to say we can’t though, and that is the crucial closer here. We’ve seen Corniel Van Zyl’s side do everything they need to do to beat the Ospreys at points this season, it’s just a case of putting it all together on the day. Uppa the Blue & Blacks!
Cardiff Rugby Life 