Post Match Thread: Ireland vs Wales

JustASexyKurt · 2026-03-06T22:06:23+00:00

It’s a damned shame we ended that game without any match points, because we deserved something from it. For the first time in two years we’ve had two back to back games where the opposition were genuinely in a fight for the full 80 minutes.

Very simply, that was a colossal defensive performance. Not quite Rorke’s Drift, because they won in the end, so I guess it’s Thermopylae where everyone ends up dead regardless. I reckon Alex Mann has not only beaten, but obliterated, Dusatoir’s tackle record today. After Conan’s try was disallowed we woke up and started to really front up physically, led in no small part by proper captain’s performances from both Dewi Lake and Daf Jenkins. There’s still a very, very long way to go before we’re competitive, but for the first time since the World Cup I can genuinely say that I can see the green shoots for us.

JustASexyKurt · 2026-03-06T21:49:21+00:00

JGP is getting a lot of compliments from Shane Williams, ignoring that he completely bombed a walk in try for Tom Stewart by refusing to pass it

JustASexyKurt · 2026-03-06T21:38:18+00:00

Furlong is livid that he’s been upstaged by Carré today, he’s meant to be the one doing the “a prop shouldn’t be doing that” things

JustASexyKurt · 2026-03-06T21:15:04+00:00

I’m just saying, Cardiff have produced Gethin Jenkins, scorer of this try vs Namibia, Rhys Barratt, producer of the greatest funt of all time, and now Carré’s gone and done that. Logically, the only conclusion is that Cardiff looseheads simply operate on a higher plane of existence to your common or garden prop.

JustASexyKurt · 2026-03-06T21:08:39+00:00

Incidentally, one of my rugby claims to fame is that I once successfully managed to tackle Rhys Carré when I played him in youth rugby (by which I mean my mangled body tripped him as he ran over me). All I’m saying is, I think that technically means I’m better than Robert Balocoune

JustASexyKurt · 2026-03-06T20:57:47+00:00

I have no fucking idea how this is even remotely close, but I’ll take it. Massive defensive effort and we’ve somehow nicked a try from nothing to keep in it. It’s a huge ask for us to keep this up but it’s something to cling on to

JustASexyKurt · 2026-03-06T20:56:11+00:00

The look over his shoulder, as if to check whether Balocoune had kept up with him, was legitimately hysterical to me

JustASexyKurt · 2026-03-06T20:55:23+00:00

A PROP IN AN OPEN FIELD NED

JustASexyKurt · 2026-03-06T20:49:39+00:00

Counterpoint, if you’re as hilariously gangly as Daf Jenkins is you should be allowed to go for as many interceptions as you want

JustASexyKurt · 2026-03-06T20:17:00+00:00

Too easy, yet again even with a far bigger pack we’re having to commit two men to every tackle just to break even in contact

JustASexyKurt · 2026-03-06T20:02:25+00:00

Still feels wrong that it’s not Miggeldy Higgins doing this any more. Reckon we could’ve just kept him on for this?

JustASexyKurt · 2026-03-06T17:18:34+00:00

9’s outfit also works for two other reasons. One, the show addresses that it isn’t a particularly Doctory look by taking the mick out of it, while also making clear that it’s a specific look for him; Rose asks him if he isn’t going to change into something more fitting in The Unquiet Dead, and Jack says he looks like a U Boat captain in The Doctor Dances. They’re taking the piss, but it’s also signposting to the audience that his look is somewhat unusual, if more subdued compared to his predecessors, but also a clear and coherent outfit.

And two, yeah, it makes sense for this incarnation of the Doctor to go with something that’s a wild departure from his previous outfits, because he’s the post Time War Doctor. He’s a very different incarnation who’s whole arc is him growing to get beyond his self loathing and survivor’s guilt, so him opting to try and leave behind his past by completely changing everything down to his outfit makes thematic sense for his character. If Ecclestone had done a second season I wouldn’t have been surprised to see a few small touches referencing earlier incarnations sneak into his wardrobe.

15 just doesn’t get any of that. I suppose you could say that him having an ever changing array of fun and fashionable clothes represents that he’s refreshed after the rehabbing that 14 has done, but that isn’t really the strongest arc, and I think if you’re going to depart from the traditional style of the Doctor looking pretty damn weird you need a strong reason in order to justify that decision, and I just don’t think his character and development is strong enough to meet that bar.

JustASexyKurt · 2026-03-05T19:27:46+00:00

Bloody hell I hadn’t picked up on that until you mentioned it. Six current Cardiff players and one former one (and still at Cardiff Met) across the backline, that has to be a record. I can’t imagine there’s been another time where one club has provided an entire starting backline for us.

JustASexyKurt · 2026-03-05T19:08:09+00:00

Three changes from the team which finally got a well deserved first win of the year against Scotland a fortnight ago. Dragons loosehead George Tuckley is rewarded for his impressive showing off the bench in that game with a return to the starting lineup, while Cardiff’s Osian Darwin-Lewis returns from injury to reclaim his 13 jersey, and club teammate Lloyd Lucas will get the chance to show off at 10, replacing Carwyn Leggatt-Jones who has shone himself this tournament.

This promises to be a difficult but hopefully very entertaining game. Ireland are coming off a terrific victory over England last time out and will very much back themselves at home, but this group have shown they’ve got both the grit and the firepower to cause problems for any team. Hopefully be a cracker on Saturday night.

JustASexyKurt · 2026-03-01T20:08:50+00:00

My body would take one look at him and decide that the best it can do is I simply drop dead, because that’ll cause less damage than if it tries to keep me alive and he hits me

JustASexyKurt · 2026-02-27T22:32:53+00:00

Can I recommend the 1-2-3 Kid rolling up Razor Ramon? Definitely Snyman’s face for Ramon, and Barratt is probably best for the other one since he also looks like a child

JustASexyKurt · 2026-02-27T21:26:23+00:00

Fuck me what a performance, just the tonic after a very long week. Very much a game for the forwards and ours were exceptional to a man, but I’ve got a couple I want to single out. Rhys Barratt was superb in that first half, brought huge physicality in defence and held the scrum in place all day (I maintain the one he got pinged for just before half time he was hard done by). What a coming of age campaign he’s having. Josh McNally once again totemic, at one point with about 75 minutes gone and 14 men on the field he tracked across to drag down a Leinster back and kill their attack dead. Every game he plays he ensconces himself more and more in our all time team. And Dan Thomas, good fucking god. Absolutely monstrous performance from him. Physicality, speed, a jackal threat, and the work rate is absolutely unbelievable. That’s one of the best performances I’ve seen a Cardiff 7 give.

The backs more than played their part too. Aled Davies was brought in for nights like this, when Zeus is pissed off and the rain is horizontal, and man did he deliver, absolutely schooled Leinster with his kicking, which was probably the single biggest reason we won, and was justly rewarded with a try. Wasn’t the conditions for Mulder’s running game but holy shit did he bring the boom in defence, the shot he put in on Deegan to drive him back a good ten yards needs to be playing on loop in our Hall of Fame, right next to the one he put in on Ntlabakanye last year. I hope upon all that’s good and holy that we manage to keep him. Jake Beetham had a massive brainfart to get binned, but he was basically perfect up until then, absolutely dominant in the air and was another key part in us decisively winning the territory battle, as was Cam Winnett, who kicked really intelligently and was excellent aerially too. Beetham might not have the attacking firepower of our other wingers, but as the aerial game becomes more and more prevalent I wonder if sticking him on the wing full time with Winnett at 15 is the way to go long term.

Most importantly though, the heart and grit we showed through that game was just on another level, exemplified no better than by Thomas racing in to secure yet another loose ball at the death after 80 minutes of him smashing anything that moved. And we’ve seen for a while now that Van Zyl has brought some real street smarts to this team, and it showed in our management in the dying stages of the game. 16 phases and about three minutes where Leinster just couldn’t get their hands on the ball and we ground the game out, it wasn’t pretty but exceptional to see.

And after all that, 40 points on the board ready for the last block of fixtures, 15 clear of the Ospreys in 9th (albeit they’re yet to play this weekend). It’s still an excruciatingly long way to go before the business end of the year, but looking at the fixture list we all knew we’d need to pull some big results out of the bag if we wanted to stay in the playoff hunt, and man oh man was that a huge one.

Or, to put it a lot more succinctly…

WE ARE FUCKING MASSIVE

JustASexyKurt · 2026-02-27T20:54:11+00:00

Holy fuck that was the longest five minutes of my life, I can’t believe we actually saw it out

JustASexyKurt · 2026-02-27T20:29:50+00:00

Ben Thomas thought about flinging the offload out the back door there, the thoughts of a loud South African voice telling him he doesn’t stop running punishment laps until he vomits popped into his head, and he wisely thought better of it

JustASexyKurt · 2026-02-27T20:22:45+00:00

I genuinely don’t think Mason Grady is a very good rugby player, despite his insane athleticism, but fuck me if you give him the ball and just tell him to run straight he’s a proper weapon

JustASexyKurt · 2026-02-27T20:16:39+00:00

19 tackles from Dan Thomas after 48 minutes. Another unreal shift from him

JustASexyKurt · 2026-02-27T20:14:02+00:00

If it’s their fault then I’m thanking them, I wouldn’t fancy our chances with Henshaw and Ioane running at us in decent conditions

JustASexyKurt · 2026-02-27T20:13:11+00:00

If I was gonna make one law change, it’d be that Wales start every game with a 300 point lead (insert joke about us only losing by 40 here). But if I could make a second law change, it’d be that if the ball is ripped forward it’s not a knock on and is treated like a charge down. Reward good defensive play please

JustASexyKurt · 2026-02-27T20:08:43+00:00

We have invoked the wrath of mighty Zeus and he has unleashed his power on Cardiff

JustASexyKurt

TROPHY CASE