Posted by Back in the summer of 2023 I wrote a blog entitles “So…what now?”. It was a line in the sand type piece, moving on from a few months of limbo and looking ahead at what was to come for Cardiff Rugby.
After the culmination of the 2022/23 season things were in a uniquely bizarre spot at the Arms Park; numerous players had departed after negotiations over a new deal for pro rugby in Wales had dragged on for months, funding had not been made available to sign new players, Dai Young had been suspended pending an investigation, and finally had left the club by mutual consent.
The Blue & Blacks had two assistant coaches, 23 senior players (7 of whom were on international duty ahead of the Rugby World Cup) and a senior academy squad lacking any pro rugby experience. It was a race against time to get some semblance of a coaching staff and a playing squad together ahead of the United Rugby Championship kicking off.
In that blog I asked for the rugby plan to include either “a focus on the Academy and putting a coaching staff in place with a track record of developing young players”, or “a recruitment strategy that looks for value where other clubs don’t see it”, or “a mix of the two”. What we’ve seen is the ideal mix of the two.
The 2025/26 season has seen the likes of Rhys Barratt, Evan Lloyd, Alex Mann, Jacob Beetham, Tom Bowen and Cam Winnett be at the heart of the success the team has enjoyed. Academy graduates and local lads all aged 24 or under stepping up and becoming key players in the first team squad, and even going on to international honours on the back of that.
They have been bolstered by the likes of Danny Southworth, Dafydd Hughes, Javan Sebastian, George Nott, Josh McNally, Alun Lawrence, Dan Thomas, Johan Mulder and Callum Sheedy as players who had fallen out of favour or not got their chance elsewhere and have come to Cardiff to prove themselves as well as add to the culture at the club.
Put together by some smart Darren Allinson recruitment, and moulded by some excellent coaching, they have produced a season to remember at the Arms Park with 10 home wins out of 11 games across all competitions, qualifying for a first play-off since the post-season games returned to the league in 2009, and securing a spot in the Investec Champions Cup for the club’s 150th year.
Also in that blog from 2023 I wrote that the club needed to ensure support us were on board and to “take us along for the journey”. Of course much has been written about the work Matt Sherratt did in ensuring that the communication was spot on, and although Corniel Van Zyl might not be a natural in that same respect, the team he’s put out does the talking for him.
It hasn’t been vintage Cardiff, far from it in fact. The attack has spluttered and stuttered through parts of the season, understandably given the attacking guru departed on the eve of the campaign getting underway, but in it’s place has been a whole new world of smart game management, aerial dominance and genuine grit that have grinded wins out that previously would have been losses.
The early season victories over Connacht and Edinburgh were feats of willpower, holding the nerve and half-back experience, the comeback wins over Ulster and Scarlets were pure guts and belief, the test window beating of Leinster was a straight up battle in terrible weather, and the late season wins over Ospreys and Stormers a culmination of all that was good during the campaign.
That has led to making CAP the fortress it is, and contributed to a mightily impressive average attendance of over 11,000 in a year without any English opposition coming to town in the European Challenge Cup and an overall stinking run of 7.45 or 8pm kick-offs.
The play-offs were a step too far on this occasion as the Stormers were just too good on the day in Cape Town. They showed the level required to compete in the big games come the business end of the season, and with a few too many key injuries the Blue & Blacks could not quite keep up. It does not take away from what was a very successful season though.
What it does is lead perfectly into the next stage of this great rebuild. What started in 2023 was the first chapter, and that came to a close in the summer of 2026 as Cardiff recovered from ground zero to a play-off contender and back at the top table of European rugby. Now attention turns to what the second chapter holds.
At the moment it’s a little unclear as Welsh rugby as a whole, as well as the Blues & Blacks, remain in limbo; a Welsh Rugby Union that wants to cut to three professional sides but doesn’t seem to know how, a WRU Chair about to depart, and a club under Union ownership with no clarity on what that means for the future.
Some of that may become clearer over the next few weeks – although nobody should hold their breath on that front – but until that point there is still plenty of time to bask in the enjoyment glow of 2025/26 as a Cardiff supporter. The season that we made it back in the big time!
Cardiff Rugby Life 