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Wales Online
16-05-2025
- Sport
- Wales Online
Cardiff's play-off hopes hanging by a thread after gutting defeat
Cardiff's United Rugby Championship play-off hopes are hanging by a thread after a 34-24 defeat to the Stormers in Cape Town. Tries from Danny Southworth, Gabriel Hamer-Webb, Harri Millard and Dafydd Hughes gave them hope of taking two bonus points in South Africa, but a last-gasp penalty from Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu denied them a losing bonus point. They are now relying on results elsewhere, with Munster, Benetton and Edinburgh all in action tonight. Matt Sherratt's side went into the final game of the season knowing that victory would seal their first-ever play-off appearance in the league. However, it was the home side who struck first through winger Leolin Zas. Cardiff found an immediate response, with prop Southworth crossing after a lovely decoy run from Taulupe Faletau. The Stormers went back ahead, after Suleiman Hartzenberg stepped his way over. Things got worse for Cardiff after try-scorer Southworth was dismissed for a high tackle on the half-hour mark - leaving Cardiff to face 50 minutes of season-defining rugby with 14 men. Zas crossed for a second after stabbing forward a speculative kick that Cameron Winnett failed to deal with. But, despite having considerably less possession and territory, Cardiff did get themselves back into the game shortly before half-time. A lovely offload from Faletau created the space for Callum Sheedy to put across a cross-field kick for Hamer-Webb to latch onto. Sheedy ran out of time to take the conversion, even without the presence of a shot clock in the stadium - despite there being an understanding before kick-off there would be one in place - which robbed Cardiff of two easy points in rather shambolic fashion. The Stormers started the second-half in menacing fashion, with Hartzenberg crossing for his second second minutes after the restart. However, Cardiff kept fighting - with patient attacking play allowing them to put Millard over in the corner. A lengthy - and often aimless thanks to the efforts of the home TV director - TMO check showed that Springbok full-back Damian Willemse had hit Hamer-Webb with a high shot as the wing gave the try-scoring pass. Eventually, common sense prevailed - with Willemse receiving a red card. A cruel bounce handed the Stormers a try through Connor Evans seven minutes from time, but Cardiff rallied - with hooker Hughes crossing from a maul just two minutes from the end. Sheedy's conversion from out wide looked to have secured a second bonus point, only for Feinberg-Mngomezulu to knock over a penalty at the death. Stormers: Damian Willemse; Suleiman Hartzenberg, Wandisile Simelane, Dan du Plessis, Leolin Zas; Manie Libbok, Herschel Jantjies; Sti Sithole, Joseph Dweba, Neethling Fouche, Salmaan Moerat (capt), JD Schickerling, Dave Ewers, Louw Nel, Marcel Theunissen. Replacements: Scarra Ntubeni, Vernon Matongo, Sazi Sandi, Connor Evans, Paul de Villiers, Paul de Wet, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Ben Loader. Cardiff: Cameron Winnett; Josh Adams, Harri Millard, Ben Thomas, Gabriel Hamer-Webb; Callum Sheedy, Aled Davies; Danny Southworth, Evan Lloyd, Keiron Assiratti, Josh McNally (capt), Teddy Williams, Alun Lawrence, Alex Mann, Taulupe Faletau. Replacements: Dafydd Hughes, Corey Domachowski, Rhys Litterick, Rory Thornton, James Botham, Dan Thomas, Johan Mulder, Rory Jennings. Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (FIR) Live updates below:
Irish Daily Mirror
14-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Munster have won two of their last five URC games - they need to get this right
Munster's Tom Farrell is the most valuable attacking player in the URC, there is no arguing with the 31 year-old outside centre's 2024/25 he is hoping to add to as the Reds host Benetton in Cork this Friday night (8pm), a match that has morphed into a straight knockout game, a distinctive 'Last 16' the now the 31 year-old Dubliner, as yet uncapped by Ireland although he made a 2019 panel, has eye-popping numbers: TOP! URC Try Scorer - Nine (Cardiff's Harri Millard, Glasgow's Johnny Matthews, Scarlets' Blair Murray are on 8). TOP! for Carries - 223TOP! for Offloads - 40 (five of which were 'assists')TOP! for Post-Contact metres - 217SECOND! for Defenders Beaten - 58 SECOND! for Minutes played - 1293 ( behind Cardiff's Cam Winnett's 1347 mins)LEADING! URC Playmaker Award - 153 points (ahead of Stormers Warrick Gelant on 118 pts) "Playing week on week, probably just getting that continuity in my game, allows me to get a bit of a roll on and you get familiar with different combinations. That, in turn, brings a bit more continuity in the team's backline and a bit more of a settled look to it.."I suppose you just get that bit more familiar with who is around you and the players around you, what their expectations and demands are of you and vice-versa, what you can give to them and you can bounce ideas a bit more."You kind of get that familiar look to things and you're not second guessing yourself I suppose and you can kind of work off instincts." Munster need as much continuity as they can muster as, working backwards to Round 13, Benetton have beaten Glasgow 33-7, lost to Stormers away 56-5, won 42-31 at Lions, beat Cardiff 20-19 and Edinburgh 21-18 - that's quite a run."Essentially it is knockout, yeah, that's exactly what it is. We said there's no tomorrow so it's all eyes on this weekend and we haven't looked past it. Once you get into knockout rugby anything can happen and you take it game by game from there. "I suppose if we are good enough to get into the knock-outs it's only three games but we're fully focused on Friday first because we believe the game this week is going to be another step up in intensity, we're playing the guts of an international team so we're fully aware of it. "There were passages of play in the Ulster game last week where we did click well but we need to do it for longer passages and a more complete performance for the 80 minutes." Benetton are scrummaging monsters, have a powerful pack but it is their 10-12-13 combination - Jacob Umaga, Ignacio Brex, Tommaso Menoncello - that has drawn the superlatives in this back end of the season."Massively, we're fully aware of what they pose. We've spoken about it, it's essentially a Test team coming to play."Their backline is littered with internationals (Umaga has an England cap, Brex-Menoncello were superb in the 2025 Six Nations)."Their two international centres can play on the line and release late passes, they also have that power where they can beat a man in a one on one tackle if your tackle entry isn't correct, they have that ability to run through you or around you."So to have that ability to pass on the line or go around or through you, either way they're very dangerous in attack and then in their defensive game they have quite a good understanding because they've played with each other so much now, they make good defensive reads and they're a big, big part of their team."We've talked about their phase play, their counter-attack and their ability to keep the ball alive so for us it's just about making sure we're squeaky clean in our defence and working in threes and fives just to be able to shut them down."Indeed Umaga, 26 years-of-age, picked up the Player of Match award against Glasgow Warriors last week, dictating play with some clever tactical kicking, scoring a try and firing over four Umaga: 'The coaches put a lot of emphasis on the space in the backfield and it was my job to execute it, you are always very happy as a no10 when you can make your kicks and I did alright.'When it all comes together and we put into performance what we practice, we are a very good team. It showed out there that when we have got confidence, the boys can do anything.'It was the last home game of the season and we are saying goodbye to some great players, so to put in a performance like that to keep our season alive, we are very happy.'That might not be what Farrell and the Munster cadre want to hear but the reality is that Munster have control of their own fate."Yeah, massively, we've spoken about it that we're in a fortunate position that it is in our hands, so we're the only ones who can do that right now on Friday night, at least we're in a lucky position to be able to put our game out there."We've haven't really given it too much external pressure, we know the consequences that are there but we haven't really focused on them too much, we've literally focused on what we can control within our game."We feel if we do put that out on the pitch that it will give us a really good shot of getting a victory on Friday. We genuinely haven't talked about any consequences or anything like that."There is some light at the end of that tunnel for Farrell with regards to gaining that elusive international cap not least as Bundee Aki and Garry Ringrose are on Lions duty this given there are Ireland Tests against Portugal and Georgia, there could be room for the URC's star performer,'To be honest, when I arrived I probably didn't think I was going to play as much as I have,' admits the player who transferred in from Connacht at the start of the season..'But a couple of injuries in the back-line let me get on a bit of a rumble of games and thankfully I've been able to stay fit, which is nice, and get on a bit of a roll."The way our framework is, there's a lot of intricacies in it and my role within it allows me just to free up a bit and play off instinct and I don't actually get too bogged down with too much of the detail of it."We have a lot of playmakers within our back-line so it frees me up a bit to focus on my strengths in the inside channels, which is nice, not just personally but as a team we'd like to think we're coming together at the right time."Hopefully nice enough - and in time enough - to get Munster to the play-offs. 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BBC News
07-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Leading try-scorer Millard signs long-term Cardiff deal
Harri Millard's impressive run of form has seen him sign a long-term contract with Cardiff. The versatile back has made 59 appearances for the club, scoring 16 tries. Eight of those tries have come this season, making Millard the joint leading try scorer in the United Rugby Championship (URC). "I'm really glad to have signed a new contract with Cardiff. This is obviously my home club and we have a great group of players and coaching staff building together," said Millard. "We also have the best support at the Arms Park so I am really looking forward to the next few seasons and playing my part as we continue to grow and develop as a group."
Wales Online
25-04-2025
- Sport
- Wales Online
Cardiff take massive step towards play-offs with stirring win over Munster
Cardiff took a massive step towards the United Rugby Championship play-offs with a brilliant 26-21 bonus point win over Munster at the Arms Park. Tries from Gabriel Hamer-Webb, Harri Millard and Johan Mulder ensured the Blue and Blacks moved up the URC table as they banished some Irish ghosts. Munster had won all 10 of their previous matches against Welsh opposition, while Cardiff hadn't beaten an Irish side at the Arms Park since September 2022. However, by putting an end to all that, Matt Sherratt's side now head into their final two matches in South Africa firmly in contention to finish in the top eight. There was also the added emotion of the last home game of the season. While not all of Cardiff's departures have been confirmed yet, it was a stirring performance to end their season at the Arms Park. Cardiff had appeared to make the perfect start, after Danny Southworth put scrum-half Mulder over for the opening score. However, after a TMO intervention, the try was chalked off for a forward pass. There would be no such luck when Munster got into scoring range, with Craig Casey's floated pass to Calvin Nash unlocking the Cardiff rearguard after some pressure from the away side. The hosts responded well, with a period of pressure seeing Keiron Assiratti narrowly denied a maul try before Munster second-row Fineen Wycherley was sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on. Cardiff took advantage of the numerical mismatch, with slick handling from Cardiff's midfield allowing Hamer-Webb to grab his fourth try in two weeks. And then, the wing was involved again, latching onto Ben Thomas' crossfield kick before offloading to Taulupe Faletau. The superlative No. 8 raced away before setting up Millard for his eighth try of the season. Mike Haley would cross just before half-time to restore Munster's lead at the break. The away side looked just as dangerous after the break. A period of sustained pressure saw outside centre Tom Farrell slice through to score. However, a powerful driving maul saw Liam Belcher denied illegally from close range. Flanker Jack O'Donoghue was sent to the sin-bin as Cardiff were awarded the penalty try. Then, after strong carries from Josh Adams and Cam Winnett, Mulder sniped over to give Cardiff the lead. Sheedy had a chance to extend the lead with a penalty, but his effort off the tee hit the post. However, it ultimately didn't matter as resolute defence allowed them to hold on in front of a raucous home crowd long after the clock had gone red. Cardiff: Cam Winnett; Josh Adams, Harri Millard, Ben Thomas, Gabriel Hamer-Webb; Callum Sheedy, Johan Mulder; Danny Southworth, Liam Belcher (capt), Keiron Assiratti, Josh McNally, Teddy Williams, James Botham, Thomas Young, Taulupe Faletau. Replacements: Evan Lloyd, Corey Domachowski, Rhys Litterick, Rory Thornton, Alun Lawrence, Ben Donnell, Aled Davies, Tinus de Beer. Munster: Mike Haley; Calvin Nash, Tom Farrell, Alex Nankivell, Thaakir Abrahams; Jack Crowley, Craig Casey; Michael Milne, Niall Scannell, John Ryan, Fineen Wycherley, Tadhg Beirne (capt), Jack O'Donoghue, Alex Kendellen, Gavin Coombes. Replacements: Diarmuid Barron, Mark Donnelly, Ronan Foxe, Jean Kleyn, Ruadhán Quinn, Paddy Patterson, Tony Butler, Seán O'Brien. Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (FIR) Live updates below:
