Cardiff’s URC play-off chances are alive and kicking after the most unlikely of comebacks
Cardiff player of the match Javan Sebastian(Image: Chris Fairweather/Huw Evans Agency)
Cardiff overturned a 17-point deficit in the final nine minutes to claim a miraculous 28-24 victory over the Scarlets.
With nine minutes to go Cardiff were ninth in the United Rugby Championship table but came the final whistle they were up in sixth with the end of season play-offs are now within touching distance.
A brace of tries from Javan Sebastian, along with scores from Ben Thomas and Cameron Winnett got Cardiff over the line. Callum Sheedy also contributed eight points from the kicking tee.
Taine Plumtree, Johnny Williams, Dane Blacker and Blair Murray scored tries for the Scarlets, while Joe Hawkins kicked four points.
Here are the player ratings.
Scarlets
15. Blair Murray 7
Excellent under the high ball with one terrific take under pressure in the first-half.
Murray was also his usual self with ball in hand and looked the Scarlets’ most dangerous player.
Claimed the Scarlets’ bonus point try but got sent to the sin bin for an intentional knock on late on which put the Scarlets down to 13 men.
14. Tom Rogers 8
Despite announcing he will be leaving the club at the end of the season to join the Ospreys, Rogers was excellent.
The Wales wing was strong in defence, even winning a jackal penalty at the breakdown but he showed his attacking prowess after the break.
It was his break that set-up Blair Murray’s try.
13. Eddie James 6
The Wales centre carried well, while there was also some nice touches with ball in hand.
But one can’t help but feel James would be more effective at 12.
12. Johnny Williams 7
Quiet in the first-half but came to life after the break.
Williams carried extremely well, making vital post-contact metres to put the Scarlets onto the front foot.
The 29-year-old also touched down for a vital try early in the second-half.
11. Ellis Mee N/A
Left the field early with an injury.
10. Joe Hawkins 6
The Wales centre kicked well out of hand and stood his ground in defence.
Hawkins also helped the Scarlets backline cut Cardiff to shreds after the break.
Had a conversion charged down.
9. Dane Blacker 8
There were a few too many wayward kicks from the Scarlets number nine in the first-half but he came to life after the break.
Blacker sparked the Scarlets into life with a quick tap which resulted in Johnny Williams’ try while he also scored his own from long-range.
8. Fletcher Anderson 7
This week the Kiwi No 8 declared he may be interested in representing Wales in the long-run after signing a new three-year contract with the Scarlets.
Anderson has four years to make a decision but Steve Tandy will be hoping he sticks around because he was very prominent yet again.
The 23-year-old carried well, always making metres to give the Scarlets go forward.
7. Jarrod Taylor 7
The South African got through a mountain of work, making 16 tackles tackles and winning two turnovers.
Taylor did a large amount of the unseen dirty work which allowed others to shine.
6. Taine Plumtree 7
The Scarlets backrower was excellent.
Plumtree carried well and was extremely effective in the wide channels while he also stole some key lineouts.
It was his one-handed offload which put Johnny Williams over while he also claimed his own try.
Blotted his copybook by giving away a yellow card.
5. Max Douglas 6
The Scarlets’ lineout ball wasn’t as clean in the first-half as they would have hoped in the first-half but Douglas helped tidy it up after the break.
4. Sam Lousi 6
The experienced Tongan played his part in a dominant performance by the Scarlets pack.
Lousi went well at the lineout and put a lot of pressure on Cardiff scrum-half Johan Mulder at the base of the ruck.
3. Archer Holz 6
The Australian only lasted one half but he is worth his weight in gold as a scrummager.
Sent the Cardiff scrum backwards at a rate of knots in one scrum.
2. Ryan Elias 7
The Scarlets lineout was too hit and miss at times, with Elias pinged for a dummy throw in the first-half when the hosts had a strong attacking position.
But the Wales hooker helped fix those issues after the break and had the better of Liam Belcher.
Elias was very prominent around the park with a few very powerful carries.
1. Kemsley Mathias 6
Solid enough at the scrum, while he made five tackles and six carries.
Mathias also had a hand in Johnny Williams’ try after the break with his pass putting Taine Plumtree into space.
Replacements
16. Marnus van der Merwe 6
The South African carried well after replacing Ryan Elias.
17. Josh Morse 5
The former Wales U20s prop showed up well in defence but a few scrummaging problems.
18. Harri O’Connor 5
Struggled at the scrum.
19. Jac Price N/A
Came on for a second then had to leave the field immediately due to Taine Plumtree’s yellow card.
20. Dan Davis N/A
Not enough time on the field
21. Archie Hughes 5
The Tenby product was on the back foot and covered well under pressure when Callum Sheedy put a clever kick into the Scarlets 22 late on.
22. Carwyn Leggatt-Jones N/A
Did not come on.
23. Joe Roberts 5
Roberts was called into action earlier than anticipated.
He made an impact with a few powerful carries to get over the gainline but his wayward kick late on cost the Scarlets badly.
Cardiff
15. Cameron Winnett 7
The Cardiff full-back played most of the game on the back-foot but defended well, while he was also strong under the high ball.
Winnett came into his own late on and scored a try out wide.
14. Jacob Beetham 7
The Cardiff wing didn’t have much to do for the first 71 minutes but exploded into life late on with a few strong surges and won a few high balls.
13. Ben Thomas 6
The Cardiff centre was playing out of position at outside centre and gave a decent account of himself.
Thomas impressed with ball in hand but had his hands full against the powerful Scarlets centres.
Scored his side’s first try.
12. Rory Jennings 6
The 30-year-old had his moments with ball in hand putting his outside backs into space.
But he fell off a few tackles.
11. Mason Grady 8
The Wales international looked prominent in attack and got over the gain-line with some powerful carries.
Grady made one clear line break in the first-half but sustained a horrible hand injury.
10. Callum Sheedy 8
The Cardiff playmaker controlled the game well, with a lovely 50/22 in the first-half setting the platform for his side’s opening try.
Sheedy’s distribution was very good and he succeeded in putting players into space.
He also charged down Joe Hawkins’ conversion for good measure.
9. Johan Mulder 7
It was Mulder’s lovely pass from the base of the ruck which put Ben Thomas over for the opening try.
A solid performance from the South African.
8. Alun Lawrence 6
The Cardiff No 8 worked hard but was on the back foot for large parts of the game.
Lawrence made nine carries and six tackles.
7. James Botham 8
Botham was arguably Cardiff’s best forward.
The Wales backrower made 11 tackles and finished the game as the top ball carrier with 12.
It was Botham’s pass which put Cam Winnett over for Cardiff’s third try.
6. Alex Mann 6
It was one of Mann’s quieter performances but he did succeed in getting under the skin of the Scarlets pack at times.
Worked hard by putting in seven tackles and carrying seven times.
5. George Nott 6
The Cardiff pack were second best for large periods of the game.
Cardiff’s lineout also didn’t function as well as they would have liked but Nott worked hard putting in 11 tackles.
4. Josh McNally 7
Worked hard but the Cardiff pack were on the back foot for large periods of the game while the lineout also malfunctioned.
Played the full 80 minutes and was very prominent in the final nine minutes with one very good charge forward.
3. Keiron Assiratti 5
The Wales prop scrummaged reasonably well but the Cardiff pack struggled on the whole.
Worked hard but not much of an impact around the park.
2. Liam Belcher 5
The Cardiff captain carried well but the lineout went awry on too many occasions.
1. Rhys Barratt 5
Barratt came under pressure at the scrum from Archer Holz.
Worked hard in defence but the Cardiff pack were very much second best for large periods of the game.
Replacements
16. Dafydd Hughes 8
The former Scarlets hooker made a big impact with one clean linebreak into the home side’s 22.
He also helped fix Cardiff’s lineout woes.
17. Danny Southworth 7
The Wales cap helped improve Cardiff’s scrum while there were a few powerful carries near the Scarlets try line late on.
18. Javan Sebastian 9 (Star man)
What an impact from the Scotland prop.
Scrummaged and carried well, while his two tries fired Cardiff to victory.
19. Rory Thornton 6
Helped Cardiff fix their lineout woes in the final 10 minutes of the game.
20. Dan Thomas 7
The Cardiff backrower was into everything and battled hard at the breakdown.
Thomas made a few prominent carrries late on.
21. Taine Basham 7
Basham gave Cardiff some ball carrying clout with a few strong surges. Very prominent in that final nine minutes.
22. Ellis Bevan 7
Slick service during that final nine minutes and got quick ball to the Cardiff back-line.
23. Ioan Lloyd 7
The former Scarlets man looked dangerous with ball in hand and was another player who was very prominent with ball in hand during those final nine minutes.