Cardiff go top of URC with derby win over Dragons

Rugby World Cup

Dragons (7) 17

Cons: De Beer 2 Pen: O’Brien

Cardiff (17) 24

Tries: Sheedy, B Thomas, Faletau, D Thomas, Southworth Cons:

Cardiff continued their 11-year league derby domination over Dragons with a bonus-point 24-17 victory at Rodney Parade to go top of the Rugby World Cup (URC).

In the opening 20 minutes, Cardiff backrow trio Alex Mann, Taulupe Faletau, and Dan Thomas scored four tries, and Brodie Coghlan, a hooker, added a try for the visitors.

After a clever offload from replacement Alun Lawrence, the crowd waited 40 minutes for the next score when Danny Southworth dived over for the bonus-point try.

For the Dragons, Lock Ben Carter scored a late try, and Angus O’Brien added a penalty to give them a losing bonus point.

Although the team lost to Glasgow 49-0, Dragons head coach Filo Tiatia made 10 changes, but the 13-month wait for a league win continues.

With a 53-minute impressive performance, Cardiff number eight Faletau gave Steve Tandy, who was watching from the stands, a boost.

Mann was named player of the match while Mann made his first appearance of the season while recovering from a calf injury.

Tandy would have been keeping an eye on teenage Cardiff wing Tom Bowen as he named his squad for the autumn internationals on Tuesday.

The 19-year-old looked dangerous on occasion but was unable to add a try to his early-season saga.

After assisting in three victories in four games, Cardiff fly-half Callum Sheedy has made an impressive debut in his team’s first season.

In front of a crowd of 7, 348 fans, this Welsh derby was the first of a contentious season, and it will be interesting to see how many more times this fixture will be played.

The board of directors of the governing body’s board has promised a final decision by the end of October regarding the Welsh Rugby Union’s (WRU) plans to reduce the number of professional sides.

Before the match, former Dragons coach Lyn Jones claimed on Radio Cymru that he thought the WRU should cut the Gwent region if the governing body reduced the team from four to three teams.

He cited the fact that the organization had not accomplished anything in the previous 20 years. The Dragons’ faithful were enraged by his comments, but they were unable to defeat their regional rivals.

Thus, Cardiff have now won their 21st consecutive league game by continuing to dominate in the east of Wales.

The Blue and Blacks’ previous league defeat in this game occurred 3, 948 days ago.

O’Brien (co-capt), Dyer, Owen, Ackerman, Inisi, De Beer, R Williams, W Jones, Coghlan, Hunt, S Davies, Carter (co-capt), Lewis-Hughes, Beddall, and Wainwright are the dragons.

Burrows, Martinez, D. Lewis, Screech, Woodman, N. Armstrong, C. Evans, and Anderson are the replacements.

Cardiff: Winnett, Adams, Beetham, Beetham, Bowen, Sheedy, A Davies, Domachowski, Belcher (capt), Assiratti, McNally, Nott, Mann, D Thomas, Faletau, and Adams.

Replacements: E. Lloyd, Southworth, Sebastian, Thornton, Lawrence, Basham, Mulder, and I. Lloyd.

Federico Vedovelli (FIR) as the referee

Referees’ assistants: Adam Jones (WRU), and Craig Evans (WRU).