Cardiff 20-17 Lions: Cardiff Player Ratings from fifth home URC win of the season
03/25/2025 05:41 AM
Tries from Ben Donell and Harri Millard and a pair of penalties from Callum Sheedy was enough for The Blue and Blacks to overcome The Lions for their first win since boxing day.
The Lions started the game off the stronger of the two sides, a sustained period of pressure from the Johannesburg outfit was eventually capitalised on when Asenathi Ntlabakanye converted under the posts 13 minutes in. A quick pick off the back of the ruck allowed the tighthead prop to power through the Cardiff defence. Gianna Lombard converted with his first attempt off the tee putting the visitors up 7-0 early on.
The hosts took less than ten minutes to answer back when a silky lineout move split open the Lions defence and allowed for Ben Donnell to muscle through for his second try of the season. Callum Sheedy matched his opposite number to even the scoring 22 minutes in.
Cardiff pulled in front for the first time 33 minutes into the match when Sheedy converted a penalty 40 metres out to put The Blue and Blacks up 10-7. The Lions thought they'd retaken the lead just five minutes later but Nico Steyn's try was called back for a forward pass in the buildup.
HALFTIME: CARDIFF 10- 7 EMIRATES LIONS
Just like the first half, it was the visitors who scored first when 44 minutes in Lombard evened up the score with a long range penalty which just sneaked in through the post.
Cardiff got themselves back in front through the boot of Sheedy as the fly half converted a short range penalty due to the Lions not rolling away in the breakdown.
The Lions bounced back well on the hour mark when a string of forward picks of the back of the ruck was finally converted by captain Francke Horn. Lombard continued his perfect night off of the tee putting the visitors in front 17-13 with 20 minutes left on the clock.
Cardiff once again answered quickly when Harri Millard scored a trademark wingers try in the 64th minute, he accelerated quicker than everyone else to run half the length of the pitch and convert in the corner. Sheedy got the extras putting the side from the Welsh capital up by three points.
The Lions were reduced to 14 men for the last five minutes of the game when referee Federico Vedovelli deemed Lombard to have deliberately knocked the ball on when tackling Cardiff full back Cam Winnett.
Attendance: 6,235
Cardiff Rugby
Tries: 2 ( Donnell 22', Millard 64')
Conversions: 2 ( Sheedy 22' 64')
Penalties: 2 ( Sheedy 33' 50')
Yellow cards: 0
Red cards: 0
15. Cam Winnett 14. Gabriel Hamer-Webb 13. Rey Lee-Lo 12. Rory Jennings 11. Harri Millard 10. Callum Sheedy 9. Johan Mulder 1. Danny Southworth (45') 2. Liam Belcher (captain) (76') 3. Rhys Litterick (45') 4. Josh McNally 5. Seb Davies (46') 6. Ben Donnell (60') 7. Alex Mann (60') 8. Alun Lawrence
Replacements
16. Efan Daniel (76') 17. Corey Domachowski (45') 18. Keiron Assiratti (45') 19. Teddy Williams (46') 20. James Botham (60') 21. Thomas Young (60') 22. Ellis Bevan 23. Tinus De Beer
Emirates Lions
Tries: 2 ( Ntlabakanye 12', F. Horn 59')
Conversions: 2 ( Lombard 12' 59')
Penalties: 1 ( Lombard 45')
Yellow cards: 1 ( Lombard 75')
Red cards: 0
15. Quan Horn 14. Richard Kriel 13. Manuel Rass (59') 12. Marius Louw 11. Edwill Van Der Merwe 10. Gianni Lombard 9. Nico Steyn 1. Juan Schoeman (55') 2. PJ Botha (55') 3. Asenathi Ntlabakanye (55') 4. Ruben Schoeman (65') 5. Darrien Landsberg (74') 6. JC Pretorius (59') 7. Ruan Venter 8. Francke Horn (captain)
Replacements
16. Franco Marais (55') 17. SJ Kotze (55') 18. RF Schoeman (55') 19. Ruan Delport ( 74') 20. Siba Qoma (65') 21. Layton Horn 22. Jarod Cairns ( 59') 23. Henco Van Wyk (59')
Cardiff player ratings
1. Danny Southworth – 5/10 – Southworth carried well but gave a couple of costly penalties away. He scrummaged well however against a formidable opponent in Ntlabakanye.
2. Liam Belcher (captain) – 6/10 – Belcher was solid from the set piece this evening hitting on all but one of his lineouts, he led from the front throughout in what was a good evening for the captain.
3. Rhys Litterick – 5/10 – Litterick had a decent game but was constantly bettered in the scrum by Schoeman lowering his rating.
4. Josh McNally – 5/10 – McNally had a bit of a quieter evening than his lock partner Davies but stepped up in the set piece when Davies went off.
5. Seb Davies – 6/10 – The lock had a solid cameo for his 150th appearance in blue and black, did all the basics well and commanded the lineout successfully.
6. Ben Donnell – 8/10 – Donnell was dominant all game, he got himself on the scoresheet early on and tackled well throughout.
7. Alex Mann – 7/10 – Mann was a nuisance around the breakdown and won a few turnovers for Cardiff, he also carried well and was dominant in his tackles.
8. Alun Lawrence – 5/10 – Lawrence had a quiet evening tonight, apart from one strong run off the back of the scrum he seemed to disappear on the field at times.
9. Johan Mulder – 7/10 – Mulder controlled the tempo expertly throughout the match, his passes seemed to always have the right speed and weight behind them to exploit the gaps in the Lions defence.
10. Callum Sheedy – 8/10 – Sheedy was perfect from the tee this evening, his passing and kicking games were superb and put the team on his back at times when they were losing.
11. Harri Millard – 6/10 – Millard scored a wonderful breakaway try but apart from that didn't see much of the ball all evening.
12. Rory Jennings – 6/10 – The inside centre carried very well throughout the match, he hit many hard lines and put the Lions on the backfoot right until the end.
13. Rey Lee-Lo – 5/10 – He had a quieter day than his centre partner, didn't get on the ball as much as Jennings.
14. Gabriel Hamer-Webb – 6/10 – Hamer-Webb was excellent in the air tonight, he put real pressure on the Lions backfield with his chases and when he didn't catch it, he made a hard hit to push back any chance of a kick return.
15. Cam Winnett – 6/10 – Winnett was very good out of the backfield, he kicked for territory well and made metres with every carry.
Replacements – 6/10 – The replacements came on and upped the tempo in the second half, their energy helped Cardiff keep The Lions's last push out of the try line and stepped up when the starters were tired.
5 Talking Points: Cardiff 20-17 Emirates Lions
Cardiff stand strong– The Blue and Blacks' defence stood strong in the final seconds. They weathered a storm from The Lions holding them up on the try line twice in the last minute which ultimately gave them the win. They say defence wins games and in tonight's match it most certainly did.
Cardiff's playoff push- With the win tonight Cardiff have significantly helped their chances for a playoff berth. The side out of the Welsh capital sat in 6th before their encounter with The Lions but the vital four points they picked up will help put some space between themselves and 8th with five games remaining.
Cardiff's injury woes – Cardiff were down a few of their star players tonight, Wales duo Ben Thomas and Josh Adams were missing from the encounter as they are recovering from injuries picked up on international duty. Cardiff boss Matt Sherratt expects them both to be back in action in the foreseeable future, however. He stated that "Josh is not far away, we're hoping to get him back in the next two weeks, we got Connacht after Treviso so I would like to be pretty much at full strength by then"
Sherratt's learnt from time away with Wales – The Cardiff boss had a mini break from training camp with his players to coach the Wales national team, he took charge for the last three fixtures of the six nations campaign. It's clear to see Sherratt learnt a lot in his short endeavour with Wales and looks to bring these lessons into his Cardiff team. " I think putting yourself in uncomfortable positions as a coach is massive, when you first start a job and your nervous, deliberately putting yourself in uncomfortable positions really allows you to grow and it was massive for me".
What is next for Cardiff? – Cardiff have a tough run in to the end of their URC campaign they only have one home game remaining this season. They have a trip to South Africa to face the Bulls and the Stormers to round their season out and with games against Benneton, Ospreys and Munster in the weeks leading up to their trip to South Africa it will be a hard and physical run in for Cardiff but they have set themselves up tonight in the perfect position to finish in the playoffs.
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