STORMY WEEK ENDS IN STYLE
CARDIFF put the sudden suspension of director of rugby Dai Young behind them as they secured the Welsh Shield and Champions Cup rugby with a dominant five-try victory over the Ospreys at Judgement Day.
News had broke on Friday that Young had been suspended pending an investigation, meaning he wouldn’t be present at the club’s final match of the season – with top-tier European qualification on the line at the Principality Stadium.
But rather than be left reeling by the news, they fronted up in style. An impressive first-half in particular, that effectively settled the match as a contest before the break, was littered with a series of strong individual performances.
Wales scrum-half Tomos Williams was superb, while Thomas Young shone just 24 hours after the news about his father broke.
The Welsh back-row scored a try in either half, with Max Llewellyn and Mason Grady also crossing for Cardiff. Second-half tries from frontrowers Sam Parry, Gareth Thomas and Dewi Lake offered hope of a comeback, but it wasn’t to be as Rhys
Carre and Cardiff had the final say.
Last week, Ospreys head coach Toby Booth, referring to the situation facing Welsh rugby as all four sides face budget cuts, said to ‘be careful what you qualify for’ when it came to European rugby’s top-tier.
However, the truth was that, in what had been billed as a shoot-out between the two sides for the Welsh
Shield and a Champions Cup place, the Ospreys’ hopes to retain their title as Wales’ best were gone by halftime.
The opening quarter was dominated by the Arms Park side, who sought to put behind a tricky 24 hours with a fine final performance of the season. However, despite continually milking scrum penalties from the Ospreys pack, it remained scoreless until the 26th minute.
Fittingly, it was the superlative Young who crossed for the opening score, slipping through a tackle to dive over.
Up against Wales scrum-half rival Rhys Webb, the lively Williams put on a masterclass with his work in broken play. A quick tap penalty allowed him the chance to race away from the Ospreys cover, before finding support in Llewellyn – with the Gloucester-bound centre finishing the chance.
Almost immediately, Cardiff had a third – albeit contentiously – as Young latched onto a loose ball, hacked ahead for Grady to chase.
Replays struggled to offer any evidence of a grounding, but the score was awarded regardless.
Cardiff almost had the bonus point wrapped up before half-time, with the capital club going all Harlem Globetrotters as Jason Harries, Llewellyn and Williams all threw offloads to put Young over.
Unfortunately, the final pass was forward – with the try being chalked off.
On the brink of half-time, Rhys Priestland stroked over a penalty to cap a dominant 40 minutes.
The Ospreys needed to score first in the second-half and managed that, with Parry crossing from a driving lineout six minutes after the break.
However, Williams and Young once again combined for Cardiff’s fourth midway through the half – with the scrum-half picking off a pass before offloading to the back-row to race in from half way.
The Ospreys kept plugging away, with prop Thomas powering over shortly after the hour-mark.
Minutes later, they got over for a third, with Lake on hand at the back of another strong driving maul.
But it would be Cardiff who had the final say as prop Carre forced his way over the line just minutes before fulltime.