VIDEO: Cardiff stun Leinster and push Stormers to fourth
FRIDAY WRAP: Cardiff boost their United Rugby Championship play-off by ending Leinster’s winning run with a narrow 8-7 win at Arms Park on Friday.
The win lifts Cardiff to third on the table, pushing the Stormers down to fourth. The Capetonians face the Lions on Saturday, and a win would see them reclaim third spot.
The result marks Cardiff’s first victory over the Irish province since January 2022.
Leo Cullen’s men arrived in the Welsh capital as favourites, but it never looked like a game they were going to win.
Persistent rain poured down throughout the evening. Although the all-weather surface held up impeccably, the slippery conditions made handling difficult. Leinster’s repeated attempts to move the ball wide too often played directly into Cardiff’s hands.
The hosts led 3-0 at half-time thanks to a Callum Sheedy penalty.
They went into the final quarter 8-0 thanks to scrumhalf Aled Davies’ counter-attack try.
Leinster rarely looked like mounting a comeback until a brief five-minute spell following their 69th-minute try, scored by scrumhalf Luke McGrath.
However, Cardiff held firm to secure a memorable victory.
Edinburgh battled past a spirited Scarlets side to secure a crucial bonus-point win in their bid to reach the United Rugby Championship play-offs.
*Article continues below…
Cardiff 8-7 Leinster
The scorers:
For Cardiff:
Try: A Davies
Pen: Sheedy
For Leinster
Try: McGrath
Con: Tector
Teams:
Cardiff: 15 Cam Winnett, 14 Jacob Beetham, 13 Harri Millard, 12 Ben Thomas, 11 Mason Grady, 10 Callum Sheedy, 9 Aled Davies, 8 Taine Basham, 7 Dan Thomas, 6 Alun Lawrence, 5 George Nott, 4 Josh McNally, 3 Javan Sebastian, 2 Liam Belcher, 1 Rhys Barratt.
Replacements: 16 Daf Hughes, 17 Danny Southworth, 18 Keiron Assiratti, 19 Rory Thornton, 20 Evan Rees, 21 Johan Mulder, 22 Ioan Lloyd, 23 Tom Bowen.
Leinster: 15 Jimmy O’Brien, 14 Joshua Kenny, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Ruben Moloney, 10 Harry Byrne, 9 Fintan Gunne, 8 James Culhane, 7 Scott Penny, 6 Max Deegan (captain), 5 Brian Deeny, 4 Alan Spicer, 3 Andrew Sparrow, 2 John McKee, 1 Jerry Cahir.
Replacements: 16 Gus McCarthy, 17 Alex Usanov, 18 Rabah Slimani, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Josh Ericson, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Charlie Tector, 23 Andrew Osborne.
Referee: Sam Grove-White (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Ben Whitehouse (Wales), Carwyn Sion (Wales)
TMO: David Sutherland (Scotland)
Edinburgh 24-19 Scarlets
The scorers:
For Edinburgh:
Tries: Vellacott 2, Bradbury, Paterson
Cons: Thompson 2
For Scarlets:
Tries: Roberts 2, Lousi
Cons: Leggatt-Jones 2
Teams:
Edinburgh: 15 Harry Paterson, 14 Malelili Satala, 13 James Lang, 12 Mosese Tuipulotu, 11 Wes Goosen, 10 Ross Thompson, 9 Ben Vellacott, 8 Magnus Bradbury (captain), 7 Dylan Richardson, 6 Ben Muncaster, 5 Glen Young, 4 Marshall Sykes, 3 D’arcy Rae, 2 Harri Morris, 1 Boan Venter.
Replacements: 16 Jerry Blyth-Lafferty, 17 James Whitcombe, 18 Ollie Blyth-Lafferty, 19 Callum Hunter-Hill, 20 Connor Boyle, 21 Charlie Shiel, 22 Cammy Scott, 23 Piers O’Conor.
Scarlets: 15 Jac Davies, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Macs Page, 12 Joe Roberts, 11 Tomi Lewis, 10 Carwyn Leggatt-Jones, 9 Archie Hughes, 8 Fletcher Anderson, 7 Josh Macleod (captain), 6 Max Douglas, 5 Jake Ball, 4 Sam Lousi, 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Marnus van der Merwe, 1 Kemsley Mathias.
Replacements: 16 Harry Thomas, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Harri O’Connor, 19 Jac Price, 20 Jarrod Taylor, 21 Dane Blacker, 22 Ioan Jones, 23 Gabe McDonald.
Referee: Peter Martin (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Hollie Davidson (Scotland), Rob McDowell (Scotland)
TMO: Colin Stanley (Ireland)
Source: Rugbypass
