By Graham Thomas
At a time when there has not been much to celebrate – or even give a nod of approval towards in Welsh rugby in recent times – then Cardiff deserve some credit.
Without much fanfare, they have risen to third in the United Rugby Championship (URC) table, the tournament which returns this weekend after the break for Europe.
It may be a precarious third place – both the Bulls and the Sharks just behind them have matches in hand – but let’s not let that get in the way of a rare, good news story.
It’s a long time since any Welsh team hung around the top four for any length of time, so the efforts of a youngish Cardiff side and their calmly astute coach Matt Sherratt should be applauded.
On Saturday, Cardiff face the Sharks at the Arms Park, one of those South African teams just tucked in behind, in fifth place.
î | @SharksRugby
©️ Josh McNally
6⃣ Changes to starting XV
Mulder and Sheedy at half-backhttps://t.co/JkOastco4r#AlwaysCardiff ⚫️ pic.twitter.com/XSpS6IIBfx
— Cardiff Rugby (@Cardiff_Rugby) January 24, 2025
Cardiff are unbeaten in four games in the URC and will be confident they can extend that sequence.
The Sharks may be fifth, but they have only won once on their travels in the tournament this season and last week, in the European Champions Cup, they seemed to have left their appetite somewhere along the Durban coastline as they were crushed 66-12 by Bordeaux-Begles.
Sherratt, though, insists the Sharks have more bite than they have shown so far.
“We are under no illusions of how tough it is going to be on Saturday, against a strong Sharks team,” he says.
“We have done well against them in the past but this will be a level up and we have to put as much of our game on the pitch as possible.
“The depth of the squad is really being tested at the moment but we are on our pitch, in front of our home support and it is important that we finish this block well.
“A big performance will put us in a strong position for the remainder of the campaign and the squad are determined to repay our supporters for the way they have backed us all season.”
Your Hollywoodbets Sharks team for Saturday
: https://t.co/wZnidKA06M@Vodacom #URC #CARvSHA pic.twitter.com/GCZdYfdbcr
— The Sharks (@SharksRugby) January 23, 2025
With hooker Liam Belcher injured, Josh McNally, the former Bath second row, will captain the side who are without their Wales contingent preparing for the Six Nations.
The impact of those calls at this stage of the season is always a stiff challenge for the Welsh regions, but Cardiff can still offer quality and experience as well as recent caps currently out of favour.
Cam Winnett – strangely discarded by Warren Gatland, even though he was one of the finds of last season – is at full-back, while Alex Mann is in the pack alongside Seb Davies and Thomas Young.
Callum Sheedy, another who no longer seems to interest Gatland, is at outside-half, alongside South African Johan Mulder, who makes his first start at scrum-half after half a dozen appearances off the bench.
Welsh internationals Steff Evans and Johnny Williams make very timely returns for the Scarlets as they look to retain their spot in the play-off zone.
Dwayne Peel’s team have five backs away on Six Nations duty with Wales in Tom Rogers, Blair Murray, Eddie James, Joe Roberts and the uncapped Ellis Mee, while fly-half Sam Costelow will be out for around three months following surgery on a fractured collar bone.
So having reinforcements coming on board this week is a significant boost.
Wing Evans, who is in the all-time top six for URC tries with 54, will make his first appearance for the region since suffering a ruptured Achilles injury last March.
Centre Williams has overcome a toe problem and both players start.
Having been left out of the Wales squad, Rio Dyer is turning his attention to lifting spirits in the Dragons camp, who are at home to Munster on Saturday night.
Cardiff Move To Third In URC Table And Matt Sherratt Is A Happy Man
The winger made the joint-most starts for Wales in 2024 – nine of them – but there was no place for him in Gatland’s selection.
So, the 25-year-old’s focus is firmly on helping the Dragons bounce back from last weekend’s 60-10 Challenge Cup hammering at the hands of the Lions in Johannesburg – their worst ever European defeat.
“We have to hold ourselves accountable for that result,” said the 23-cap speedster.
“The one positive was how we stuck together.”
DragonBet make the Ospreys 4/11 favourites to beat Benetton, with Cardiff 7/2 outsiders to overcome the Sharks.
The Scarlets are priced 4/5 to win at home against Edinburgh, with the Dragons 9/2 to spring a surprise against Munster.