Posted by As the summer rolls around and the off-season is now well underway for the majority of clubs in the northern hemisphere, it is time to go through the confirmed list of leavers.
At Cardiff it’s been a relatively straight-forward recruitment and retention campaign, with the vast majority of the first team squad tied down to new deals and a handful of additions to the group, albeit with at least one more retention to be sorted out in the form of Taulupe Faletau and a possible signing of a second row still on the agenda.
For now though here are the 12 departures that the end of season has brought, plus the one mid-season leaver.
Leigh Halfpenny
Of course the headline departure is that of the legendary full-back who hangs his boots up after an illustrious 18-year playing career. From stepping on to the field as a fresh-faced 19-year-old, to bowing out as one of the best to ever do it, it has been an immense career for the Gorseinon man.
His career encompassed that first stint at Cardiff where he developed from a nippy winger into a British & Irish Lion full-back, took in Toulon, Scarlets, Crusaders and Harlequins before a return to the Arms Park where he made three appearances this season alongside a part-time role as kicking coach.
Alongside that he won 101 Cymru caps, scoring 801 points, and four Lions tests during which he won the Player of the Series award during the 2013 victory over Australia. A truly remarkable career bookended by his stints in the capital, and he now sets off with the national team again where he’ll serve as kicking coach for the summer tour.
Corey Domachowski
A part of the furniture at the Arms Park for a decade, the loosehead prop departs the club this summer for a new opportunity after graduating the academy, establishing himself in the first team, earning test honours and becoming a genuine terrace favourite.
The Rhondda product made his debut in 2016 and went on to play 136 times in all competitions, winning the European Challenge Cup and putting in performances that earned 10 Cymru caps as well as a spot in the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
Domachowski has become a fine scrummager and willing worker around the field, but injuries over the last two seasons have restricted his game time, and the popular prop now heads west to Scarlets looking to rejuvenate his career in Llanelli.
Ben Donnell
A more recent arrival at the Arms Park, the versatile back five forward signed for Cardiff in January 2024 having enjoyed a short stint at Gloucester following the sad demise of London Irish where he had spent the first six years of his career.
Donnell slotted straight into the matchday squad, happy at either blindside flanker or lock while he would also go on to wear the number eight jersey on occasion. Josh Turnbull’s boots as that Swiss army knife option were big to fill, but he took the challenge on and earned plenty of plaudits on the way.
Injury restricted him to just five appearances this season, taking his total in 26 in Blue & Black, and he now moves on to Ulster where he could have an eye on test caps thanks to qualifying for Ireland through a relative.
Will Davies-King
A latecomer to professional rugby, the tighthead prop caught the eye at Cardiff Met and Pontypridd before switching to the Rags where he earned a contract with the Cardiff Academy. A debut followed early in the 2019/20 campaign but it wasn’t until post-covid that more regular first team appearances came along.
Davies-King established himself as a solid bench option during the 2022/23 season and earned a call-up to Warren Gatland’s wider Cymru training squad ahead of the 2023 Rugby World Cup but injury prevented him taking advantage of that opportunity and his career began to plateau at the Arms Park.
In the end he finishes with 37 first team appearances in all competitions, and 42 outings for the Rags where this season just gone he was a big part of helping Dan Fish’s side top the Super Rygbi Cymru table. He now moves on to Bedford Blues in the English Champ where he will play under the familiar face of Director of Rugby Mikey Rayer.
Mackenzie Martin
The ups and downs of professional rugby encapsulated in one short story as the big number eight burst on to the scene and now heads off to France.
At the beginning of the 2023/24 season Martin was turning out for the Rags in the Welsh Premiership as was the case then, but by December he was starting at number eight in back-to-back weeks against Toulouse and Bath in the Champions Cup before in February he made his Cymru debut off the bench against Ireland in the Six Nations.
However, only six substitute appearances followed in 2024/25 before a return to the Rags, and then a loan spell at Dragons was hampered by injury over last season. What exactly happened remains largely unknown, but the Ely boy will hope a relocation to Beziers in the ProD2 is the right spot to get his development back on track.
Rory Jennings
The summer of 2024 brought a targeted recruitment of players to add experience on the field and strengthen the culture in the changing room off it. Fitting that bill perfectly was fly-half/centre Jennings who had featured for Bath, London Scottish, Coventry, Clermont, London Irish and Clermont before signing on at the Arms Park.
While he undoubtedly did his job off the field as a reportedly very popular member of the squad, he also performed an important role on it during the last two months of the season just gone, starting four of the last five games as he helped Cardiff to the URC play-offs and Champions Cup rugby. The 30-year-old finishes with 27 appearances and heads back for a playing opportunity in England.
Ed Byrne
To paraphrase the old anti-war song from his home country, “Ed, we hardly knew ye!”.
Similarly to Jennings, loosehead prop Byrne arrived after a long stint at home club Leinster where he had amassed over 100 appearances, won a lot of trophies and earned six Irish caps. However, after featuring in the first six games of the 2024/25 season disaster would strike in the form of a calf injury which was re-done and then saw a hamstring injury follow.
460 days later he finally made his return in April against Benetton in the Challenge Cup, but that would be his last game for Cardiff as he was released from his contract early to return to Leinster and after the conclusion of the season announced he is hanging up his boots.
Cornel Smit
The latest cab off the South Africa rank, centre Smit arrived at the Arms Park in November to provide cover for Harri Millard in the outside centre position, and immediately won supporters over with the signing announcement that included his school grades.
Four appearances followed in all competitions, including a great outing against Racing in the Challenge Cup during which he put in a number of bone crunching hits, but it wasn’t enough to earn a longer term deal and he has returned to South Africa where he is expected to play in this summer’s Currie Cup.
Ollie Das
The first of the Academy leavers, winger Das was signed out of Hurstpierpoint College alongside studying at Cardiff University. He has played in BUCS Super Rugby for the Uni and turned out in three competitive Rags fixtures, and will now focus on his studies and BSR.
Callum Donoghue-Proud
A Corpus Christi and Cardiff & Vale College product, the tighthead prop spent his first year in the academy playing for St Albans before stepping up to play five times for the Rags. He was on permit at Bridgend for much of the second half of last season and is expected to sign there permanently this summer.
Harrison Rock
Another tighthead prop, Rock is a product of the successful Llantrisant RFC junior section and has balanced being in the academy with studying at the University of Bristol. He has played for Glamorgan Wanderers, Pontypridd and mostly this season appeared for Merthyr. He will continue his rugby combined with his education next season.
Dylan Barratt
Switching to the loosehead and Barratt – brother of Rhys – will continue his rugby solely at Cardiff Met after combining his academy rugby with the university this season. He turned out in BUCS Super Rugby and the Welsh Premiership in 2025/26, with the expectation he will play more in BSR next year.
Joseff Jones
A highly rated winger coming out of Ysgol Glantaf, Jones scored a number of eye catching tries in the WRU College League and continued his try scoring form at Merthyr this year. He made four appearances for the Rags alongside that and will now continue to be monitored as he begins to combine further education with rugby.
Cardiff Rugby Life 