Cardiff RFC launched their 150th anniversary campaign with a gritty performance, grinding out a competitive 27-17 win over Carmarthen Quins at a sodden Carmarthen Park.
With a landmark season ahead, Dan Fish’s side looked to make a positive start and lay the foundations after a successful pre-season, scoring 158 points against St Albans and Brixham RFC.
Hooker Alun Rees, open-side Nathan Hudd, and full-back Matty Young made their first appearances for the club since May, whilst tight-head Tom Harper celebrated his 50th appearance for the Blue and Blacks.
Loose-head Harry Fry made his first competitive appearance for Cardiff, joining Rees and Harper in the front-row. Captain Craig Hudd partnered Sean Moore in the second-row, whilst Ben Fry and Aled Ward completed the pack alongside Nathan Hudd.
Ben Coomer started his first league game for the club at outside-half, with Ethan Lloyd alongside him at scrum-half. Jason Harries and Tom Williams formed the midfield pairing, whilst Dewi Cross and Joe Goodchild joined Young in the back-three.
Further summer signings, Louis Fletcher, Charlie Rainbird, Sonny Greenman, and Iwan Pyrs-Jones were named among the replacements, alongside Evan Nicholls-Ngasseu, Joe Cowell, Sonny McCabe, and Tirion Bowen.
Speaking following the encounter, captain Hudd said: “It was a bit of a crazy game really.
“The weather conditions weren’t great, we were playing uphill first-half, and a couple of mistakes and we were down 14 points.
“It’s a tough place to come and give somebody a head start like that.
“The boys dug in really well, managed to score two before half-time, and then second-half I think we dominated most of it and then to come away with the win at the end is really pleasing.”
Story of the Game
The new season got underway beneath typically wet Welsh skies after a pre-season which was filled with so much sunshine. With that said, Madoc Evans got the contest underway, and it didn’t take long for the hosts to break the deadlock.
Following a lot of kicking and expected handling mistakes due to the miserable conditions, a timely kick in behind forced outside-half Coomer to take the ball over the whitewash, which resulted in a five-metre scrum for the hosts.
After being penalised, the Quins from another scrum saw number eight Lewys Millin power his way over in the corner. Evans added the extras, as the hosts led by seven points after eight minutes.
Carmarthen was then looking close to scoring their second of the contest. Winger Tomos Lewis broke upfield, but both Goodchild and open-side Hudd showed great pace and pressure, which then resulted in the visitors regaining possession.
Fullback Young, one of the Blue and Blacks’ main ball carriers in the first-half, broke through but then the visitors frustratingly lost possession inside the hosts’ 22.
Despite Cardiff showing great resilience in defence, Ashton Owen crossed over for the hosts’ second as Evans slotted the extras to extend Carmarthen’s lead further early in the second quarter.
With the visitors not shining when it came to scrum time, as more rain fell, the Quins were penalised, and Coomer kicked to the corner. After the catch-and-drive, the hosts regained possession, but they couldn’t relieve the pressure.
Carmarthen were penalised, and Coomer once again kicked into the corner; Ward gathered, and hooker Rees from the catch-and-drive scored the club’s first try of its sesquicentennial season.
Coomer added the extras to reduce the deficit to seven points after the 30-minute mark. Winger Cross made a darting run towards the end of the first-half, and this came before the hosts were penalised.
After a kick into the corner, the ball was then spread quickly out-wide, and Young scored after brilliantly making his way through the hosts’ defence. Coomer couldn’t add the two extra points, which would have seen proceedings level at the break.
HT: Carmarthen Quins 14-12 Cardiff RFC
Head coach Fish made no changes at the break, and the Blue and Blacks were quickly under some early pressure, and this came after a brilliant kick in behind by outside-centre, Jayden Brown.
However, after regathering, scrum-half Lloyd from deep inside his own 22 expertly crafted a brilliant clearance kick from the breakdown that put the visitors up to the halfway line.
Quins were penalised again, and the visitors went hunting for their third try of the contest. Despite applying pressure inside the hosts’ 22, the Blue and Blacks were unable to capitalise as the third quarter was littered with unwanted handling mistakes.
Despite being on the pitch only a matter of minutes, replacement Cowell was shown a yellow card by referee Carwyn Sion after 55 minutes. From the resulting penalty Evans extended his side’s lead to five points.
Minutes later, Ward was shown a yellow card for an infringement around the breakdown area, and this meant the visitors headed into the final quarter with only 13 on the pitch.
Replacement McCabe, who played for Cardiff Rugby last weekend against Worcester Warriors, brilliantly charged down an attempted clearance kick, and continued to shine whilst he put the backline of the hosts under significant pressure.
After a poor clearance kick, due to McCabe and his counterparts’ great work, Cardiff was on the front foot with a line-out inside the Quins’ 22.
Soon after, Lee Taylor was shown the contest’s third yellow card, and this allowed replacement Greenman to reduce the deficit to two points after a penalty.
Shortly afterwards, Greenman had a chance to put his side into the lead for the first time in the contest, but was unable to do so after inside-centre Harries won the Blue and Blacks a penalty around the breakdown.
Heading into the final 10 minutes, the Blue and Blacks eventually found their breakthrough and went into the lead for the first time.
Young crossed over to claim his brace, just like he did back in September 2024, when he scored his first two tries for the Blue and Blacks against Carmarthen at Carmarthen Park.
Greenman this time around added extras, which put the hosts into a slender five-point lead. That lead was unable to grow again three minutes later, as Greenman, from considerable distance, had his shot from a penalty go wide.
But, despite that, it looked to be a rather nervy ending for the visitors, as the Quins had possession during the closing exchanges. On an afternoon where handling was proving to be an obvious struggle for both sides, Cross on his 85th appearance brilliantly scored to secure the visitors a bonus point.
This came after outside-centre Williams broke through a tired Quins defence, and then offloaded to Young, who drew the last defender.
This allowed winger Cross to race over as Cardiff kicked off their 150th season with a hard-fought 27-17 victory against Carmarthen in West Wales.
FT: Carmarthen Quins 17-27 Cardiff RFC
Up next for the Blue and Blacks is Swansea RFC at the Cardiff Arms Park next Saturday (KO: 18:00), and this comes after Cardiff Rugby’s final pre-season match against Exeter Chiefs (KO: 15:00).
