It was a tough night at the office for the Welsh club
19:22, 20 Mar 2026Updated 20:38, 20 Mar 2026
Cardiff backrower Dan Thomas slices open the Bulls defence(Image: Huw Evans Agency)
Cardiff suffered their heaviest United Rugby Championship defeat of the season as the Bulls cruised to a 40-7 win at Loftus Versfeld.
The Bulls scored six tries in total with Marcell Coetzee, Johan Grobbelaar, David Kriel, Embrose Papier, Elrigh Louw and Ruan Vermaak touching down while Handre Pollard and Kriel contributed 10 points between them from the kicking tee.
All Cardiff could muster was a single try from Harri Millard and two points from the boot of Callum Sheedy.
Here are the Cardiff player ratings.
15. Cam Winnett 5
The Cardiff full-back did some good work in defence while he kicked well out of hand.
Winnett made a couple of handling errors but also looked decent with ball in hand.
14. Mason Grady 5
The Wales wing chased well and made some good defensive reads but found it tough going against an explosive Bulls back thtee.
Grady made a couple of strong carries but he did not get much of a chance with ball in hand.
13. Harri Millard 6
Millard helped Cardiff make the perfect start when he ran in unopposed from near the halfway line for the opening try.
Tried hard with ball in hand but it was tough going playing at altitude behind a beaten pack.
12. Ben Thomas 5
The Wales centre showed some nice touches with ball in hand while he tackled and carried reasonably well.
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Thomas had a hand in Cardiff’s only try.
11. Jacob Beetham 5
The Cardiff wing chased well putting in some big hits and competed strongly under the high ball.
But he did not have much of an opportunity to show his worth with ball in hand.
10. Callum Sheedy 5
It was always going to be difficult to operate behind a pack on the backfoot.
There were a few nice touches and some decent kicking out of hand but Cardiff’s backline failed to fire.
Sheedy got skinned on the outside by Embrose Papier.
9. Aled Davies 5
Only lasted 23 minutes.
Kicked well out of hand in that period but could not hold onto Dan Thomas’ pass after the openside had sliced open the Bulls defence.
8. Taine Basham 5
The former Dragons backrower worked hard putting in 15 tackles and carrying the ball five times.
But there were a couple of handling errors.
7. Dan Thomas 7 (Star man)
Cardiff’s best player.
Thomas competed for everything at the breakdown and made one 40-metre break which should have resulted in a try.
Finished the game as the top tackler with 18 and was a menace at the breakdown.
6. Alun Lawrence 5
Put his side on the backfoot when he got sent to the sin bin after just seven minutes for cynically killing the ball while off his feet.
But the big backrower worked hard putting in 13 tackles and five carries.
5. George Nott 4
Nott was part of a Cardiff pack who got bullied up-front for large parts of the game.
The former Dragons lock struggled to impose himself with only four tackles and one carry to his name.
4. Josh McNally 6
The former England international was one of the better Cardiff forwards.
McNally performed well at the lineout and carried hard throughout the game while he also put in 14 tackles.
3. Javan Sebastian 4
The former Scotland prop got given a torrid time at the scrum with Cardiff going backwards at a rate of knots at times.
Sebastian made three tackles and three carries.
2. Liam Belcher 5
The Cardiff captain worked hard throughout putting in 13 tackles while the lineout went well.
On the whole the lineout functioned well with Belcher on the field.
1. Rhys Barratt 4
It was a tough day at the office for the 24-year-old who got shoved backwards at scrum time.
Barratt made seven tackles but only carried the ball twice.
Replacements16. Dafydd Hughes 6
Hughes brought a lot of energy to the field and won a penalty at the breakdown.
17. Danny Southworth 5
The scrum improved when Southworth entered the fray.
18. Sam Wainwright 5
Wainwright helped improve the scrum.
19. Rory Thornton 4
He worked hard making 11 tackles and did well in the lineout but only made one carry while there were also a few handline errors
20. James Botham 5
The Wales international brought some much needed energy and was physical but the game was already lost.
21. Taulupe Faletau 6
Faletau spilled the ball a couple of times but got better the longer he was on the field with a couple of powerful carries.
22. Ellis Bevan 6
The Wales international did well upon replacing Aled Davies. Kicked well out of hand with one excellent 50/22 and looked a threat with ball in hand.
23. Ioan Lloyd 5
Lloyd looked dangerous with ball in hand as he tried his best to create opportunities.
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