Cardiff v Dragons: Five takeaways as ‘forgotten’ Wales star earns player of the match award and ‘fast-twitch youngster’ impresses again
Cardiff duo Mason Grady and Taulupe Faletau, inset, both missed Wales recent Autumn Nations Series
Following a 22-19 victory for Cardiff over Dragons in the United Rugby Championship (URC), here’s our five takeaways from Friday’s Boxing Day game at Arms Park.
The top line
This Welsh derby in front of a sold-out 12,125 crowd ended in an unexpected welter of excitement as Cardiff messed up a 22-12 lead in the 78th minute.
The concession of a penalty try and a yellow card gave Dragons the impetus to carry the fight into the 87th minute before a Dan Thomas penalty turnover at the breakdown finally guaranteed the three-point win that saw the hosts move on with a relieved smile following last weekend’s 17-21 home URC loss to the Scarlets.
It was tough on the Dragons. Having started this Round Eight much the better side, a knock-on from Mason Grady was the invitation for them to grab a seventh-minute lead. Fine Inisi swept up the loose ball and ran aggressively to the 22 where his overhead pass allowed Rio Dyer to send in Che Hope for a try that Angus O’Brien criminally left unconverted.
Thirteen minutes later, the visitors were behind after a period of Cardiff pressure culminated in a tapped penalty that produced the pick-and-drive that ended with prop Javan Sebastian burrowing over and Callum Sheedy converting.
The hosts maintained this momentum and added to their lead with an unconverted try, Alex Mann finishing off a 29th-minute pick and drive for 12-5, but this seven-point advantage then evaporated within two minutes.
Tinus de Beer was the creator, his neat left-footed grubber kick bouncing up perfectly in behind the flummoxed defence for Dyer’s inside pass to put Hope in for a try converted by O’Brien.
The 12-all stalemate was broken seven minutes into the second half, Josh Adams racing in for a try converted by Sheedy. Dragons held out for the 10 minutes they were a man short following sub Harri Keddie’s yellow card.
However, not long after his return, Sheedy slotted a 70th-minute penalty for 22-12. This match wasn’t yet decided as Cardiff got themselves in a dumbfounding defensive middle two minutes from time.
A TMO review was needed, and the outcome was a penalty try and a yellow card for the offside Josh McInally after he tackled De Beer, who had quickly tapped a penalty and was set to score. That decision led to an edge-of-the-seat finish where the 14-man Cardiff relied on Thomas’ timely intervention to seal the nervy win.
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Eye-catching Mason Grady
Grady’s performance for Cardiff wasn’t without its frustrations, but the defiance at the core of his immense level of carry was attention-grabbing, given that Steve Tandy’s national team needs options in how to better use the ball.
The 23-year-old’s afternoon endured a brutal start. It can’t have been easy, tamely knocking on a catch and seeing it hand Dragons the impetus to conjure the opening score, but that kink was remedied over the course of what followed.
Cardiff began to gradually figure out how to get him the ball more, and he became a nuisance to the Dragons’ defence, drawing in opposition players like a moth to the bright light.
It needed a rumbustious tackle from Thomas Young to prevent him getting in at the corner in the first half, but he went on to make a big dent in the set-up of his team’s third try after the break.
Then there was the highlight of how he sat down Huw Anderson in a tackle on halfway and then drove on in the contact when Aaron Wainwright attempted a choke tackle.
The stats credited him with the most metres carried out of anyone, and while there were possessions lost, it was an eye-catching performance that resulted in him getting named as the Player of the Match.
Because of his injuries, it’s November 2024 versus Fiji when Grady last wore the colours of Wales. He has since been forgotten, but this fourth appearance in his latest club comeback was impressive, and expectations will now start to grow about a Six Nations call-up next month.
Fast-twitch Hope
In the end, this festive fixture didn’t produce what could have been a first away win for the Dragons in the URC since they won at Scarlets way back in April 2022.
However, there was hope to take from this loss as their youthful scrum-half – aptly named Hope – followed up his two-try sweep in last Saturday’s home win over Connacht with another fast-twitch, two-try blast here.
The soon-to-be 22-year-old doesn’t delay in getting around the pitch, and the two support lines he ran to be in threatening positions off winger Dyer were perfect in gathering passes from out of the contact and then in open play to run in and score twice.
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It is a leap, of course, to suggest that Hope, who was making just his sixth club start, can soon be putting it up to the likes of national team first choice Tomos Williams, who is moving from Gloucester to Saracens next season.
A lengthy kicked clearance from the back of an early second half was impressively crisp, as was the boot he struck to loose ball to release the pressure on the hour.
There were signs of the inexperience of youth. Look at how he bit it rashly in defence when Cardiff ran in their lead-taking third try. But he did enough in his 69 minutes here to suggest he is a name to watch to see how he progresses in the second half of the Dragons’ season.
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Faletau’s comeback
You have to go back to Boxing Day in December 2014 to find the last time Dragons defeated Cardiff in the league, and one of the prime reasons that record stretched to 22 league successes was the form of Taulupe Faletau.
Unavailable for the Autumn Nations Series, his positional battle at No.8 with Wainwright was a highlight as the Dragons’ backrower was the beneficiary of that knee injury, starting three matches with Wales in November.
This was Faletau’s second outing – and his first start – on the comeback trail, and apart from the sight of him looking gassed trying to get into position following the De Beer grubber that created the Dragons’ second try, he had the more impactful outing.
On the field for just short of an hour, Faletau was involved in the pick-and-drive for his team’s opening, and his knack of regularly being in the right place at the right time was further evident in the tackle he completed that allowed Thomas win a poach penalty at the resulting breakdown to allow Cardiff build pressure for their second try.
There was also a role in the third Cardiff try with a hefty carry around the corner. Compare that to Wainwright, whose prime moment to shine – a 63rd-minute carry in the opposition 22 – resulted in the ball getting turned over.
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Dragons’ revival
It can’t be a good look for Welsh rugby when the injury-hit Dragons were compelled to pad out their starting team with a hooker, George Roberts, recently recruited from English Championship club Doncaster.
Surely there was someone within the Welsh system capable of plugging the gap that saw Roberts come off the bench against Connacht and start at Cardiff.
This lack of depth aside, the rejuvenation in the Dragons in recent weeks is intriguingly devilish. If you have to pick one region to get rid of based on their historic results, it would be the Rodney Parade club, as they have been way off the mark for years now.
Their recent two results, though – the win over Connacht and this bonus loss at Cardiff – moved them to 10 points on the table, ahead of Scarlets and Ospreys, who were playing in the day’s second derby.
With Scarlets and Ospreys, the two clubs believed to be most under threat with the WRU going from four regions to three, the Dragons had no option this winter but to start delivering improved performances and some wins.
Their effort at Cardiff was another step in the right direction towards bolstering their argument that they are part of Wales’ future. They just need to keep on delivering now.