Summer of signings but off-field vacuum continues

Two months ago, as club rugby took a back seat and the Nations Championship got underway, I took a look at what Cardiff Rugby needed to achieve over the off-season to get ready for 2026/27 in good time.

With the players back in for pre-season training and the first friendly away at Worcester Warriors just a few weeks away, let’s have a look at how the Blue & Blacks have been shaping up during the heat of summer.

Finalise recruitment and retention

After some good work from recruitment lead Darren Allinson and the comms team at the club we’ve seen the majority of the squad retained at the Arms Park. Only six first team squad players have departed and only one of those, in the form of Rory Jennings, made more than five starts in all competitions last season.

The big retention news of the last few weeks is that Taulupe Faletau is going for one more season at Cardiff. The legendary number eight continues to be blighted by injury troubles with only seven appearances and four starts last year, but his quality remains unquestioned and the Welsh Rugby Union may well be eyeing up trying to manage him through to the 2027 Rugby World Cup.

This has been complemented be the signing of Tongan international back five forward Semisi Paea from the sadly dissolved Moana Pasifika, and confirmation that fly-half Jarrod Evans is returning to the club from Harlequins. The club say they continue to look for a second row, while some young props remain linked with a loan move, but the squad is in a decent shape for the new season.

Confirm the coaching staff

In a similar vein to the recruitment and retention of the playing staff, some good work has been done on the coaching front as Corniel Van Zyl’s ticket comes together for his first season as full-time head coach.

Gethin Jenkins remains in place to continue running his impressive defence and Scott Andrews continues to improve the scrum, while Jonny Goodridge and Rey Lee-Lo look after the skills element of the coaching. They will be joined by the returning Leigh Halfpenny who becomes the full-time kicking coach after retiring from playing.

The most interesting addition to the coaching staff comes in the form of Dan Bowden though. A former fly-half with a varied playing career across Northland, Parma, Blues, London Irish and Yamaha Jubilo, amongst others, he has coached at Auckland and Toshiba Brave Lupus before most recently running Japan’s attack.

I can’t claim to closely follow the Japan Rugby League One in order to offer much insight into Bowden as a coach, but the success of the club sides he’s been involved with is worth recognising, as is the similarity between the Japanese fast-paced, expansive and high skill level of rugby where forward dominance is not guaranteed and how Cardiff aim to play the game with the makeup of our squad.

There does remain a slight question mark over the future of Jonny Goodridge as skills coach with the Cymru job still available, but at the time of writing the Blue & Black’s coaching ticket is in a good place after a season of some uncertainty.

Get a CEO in place

This is where things have hit a stumbling block though as there still exists a eery silence over what the future management and ownership of the club look like following the Welsh Rugby Union’s decision to retain control of Cardiff after the proposed Y11 Sport & Media purchase collapsed.

It was back in late April that the WRU announced the sale of the club was off, with Abi Tierney stating they had “concluded it is in the best interests of Welsh rugby for Cardiff to remain under our ownership for now”, but three-and-a-half months later supporters are still waiting for any word from the Arms Park or the Union on why that decision has been taken and what the future looks like.

Not long after that decision WalesOnline reported the search for a new club CEO had commenced with Jamie Muir acting as interim managing director since the departure of Richard Holland in the summer of 2025. However, there is still no news on that front or the development of a full board of directors for the Blue & Blacks.

Although there is no imminent threat to Cardiff with the news that ourselves and Dragons are “safe” for now, getting proper governance in place at the Arms Park remains important as the future of Welsh rugby is hashed out. The club needs proper representation in that, and to communicate with supporters on what the next few years looks like as rumour replaces silence in the information vacuum.