Posted by The big downside to Cardiff’s 2025/26 campaign was that across the course of the season the attack seemed to get more and more bogged down.
On the United Rugby Championship’s website their stats section – albeit using an undefined formula – rated the Blue & Blacks as the 13th best attack in the league. Only three teams scored fewer tries while the Scarlets scored the same number, and the same three teams were the only ones to score fewer points.
There is an obvious possible for reason for those concerning stats in that the Head Coach and attack supremo Matt Sherratt departed on the eve of the season. Jonny Goodridge combined his Skills Coach job with running the attack but having never run an attack at the senior professional level was very much learning on the job.
Add in the loss of a player in Rey Lee-Lo who’s quality and general importance to Cardiff in the crucial position of outside centre cannot be overstated, and there’s a major double whammy to deal with when attempting to get over the try line.
The club have attempted to belatedly address that over the summer though with the signing of Dan Bowden as an Assistant Coach and bringing in Le Roux Malan at outside centre, and on the evidence of the first two weeks of the 2026/27 season the tide appears to be turning when it comes to the Cardiff attack.
Prefaced somewhat by the opening two fixtures being against two of the weakest sides in the league, the Blue & Blacks have scored 61 points, nine tries, and made 16 line breaks on the way to securing nine points from a possible ten. Delve into the tape and it is obvious that the attacking system is starting to work once again.
There has been a concerted effort to get the ball away from breakdowns quickly, or better still get an offload away to avoid a breakdown, in order to keep the ball alive and increase the tempo of the attack. It’s an approach with the fingerprints of Bowden all over it, a Kiwi coach who has started his coaching career in New Zealand and spent recent years in Japan where pace and width are key.
Aiding this has been the use of Malan in the 13 jersey. The Namibian has made 16 carries for 94 metres across the first two games, with just a single line break as he is used as a short option off Callum Sheedy or Ben Thomas on first phase ball to add a direct edge to the midfield, get Cardiff over the gainline and open up space for others.
That has allowed Goodridge to do what he does best and build attacking shape around that, with the Blue & Blacks regularly mixing it up between forwards, Sheedy and Thomas at first receiver, bringing Johan Mulder around on a loop from scrum-half, and getting blindside wingers off their flank and into midfield.
For 55 minutes or so on Friday night that led to a fantastic Cardiff performance where Zebre were put to the sword and the hosts went 40-8 up. Unfortunately at that point the foot was completely lifted off the accelerator and, with the assistance of some refereeing being evened up and an Italian opposition with nothing to lose, the scoreline got slightly close for comfort.
It doesn’t feel as if that will be an issue moving forward. There won’t be many games this season where Corniel Van Zyl’s side are so dominantly ahead so early in the second half, some players coming off the bench will only improve from the mistakes of that final quarter, and Gethin Jenkins will no doubt be ensuring tries of that soft nature are not seen regularly.
Looking ahead to this weekend and if there was ever a fixture to focus the mind towards a more complete 80-minute performance then Leinster away at the reopening of what you and I know as the Royal Dublin Society Arena is the one.
It’s a timely huge fixture for the Blue & Blacks to get their teeth stuck into after the slight disappointment of how that win over Zebre finished, and also a great test for this developing attack against an Irish team that is expected to be packed with as many Ireland internationals as are available to Leo Cullen.
The season has started with some favourable games for Cardiff, but with a trip to Northampton in the Investec Champions Cup following the game in Dublin, and then the Sharks awaiting on a short turnaround after that, it feels as if the campaign is now properly starting. Let’s see exactly where this team is up against some of the best the club game has to offer.
