The latest rugby news from Wales and around the world
Mason Grady of Cardiff Rugby suffered the injury against the Scarlets (Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency)
These are your headlines on the morning of Sunday, April 19.
English chief calls for Anglo-Welsh league
Exeter Chiefs chairman Tony Rowe has urged PRL to consider bringing two Welsh clubs into the Gallagher Prem.
PRL are looking to expand the league from 10 to 12 games for the 2028/29 season as the Gallagher Prem turns into a ring-fenced franchised competition.
While PRL are said to be looking at the prospect of entering clubs outside of rugby union’s traditional heartlands in areas such as Birmingham, Rowe insists they should look across the Severn Bridge.
“Ten clubs is not enough. Financially it doesn’t work for anybody,” Rowe told the Guardian.
“We’ve got to get to 12 clubs and, in my view, we should go to 14. I still believe we should approach the Welsh.
“I think it would pump life into Welsh rugby and we need the games financially.
“There’s talk about bringing two new English clubs into an expanded league in 2029-30 and personally I’d like to see two Welsh clubs as well.”
The Welsh Rugby Union is currently committed to reducing the number of professional clubs in Wales from four to three.
“Welsh rugby is on its arse, isn’t it?,” Rowe told the Guardian.
“I don’t think they can afford three pro clubs … I think they can only really afford two.
“There’s a lot of politics in Welsh rugby but what if Swansea and Cardiff joined an expanded Prem? It happens in cricket.
“Why not in rugby? From a logistical point of view I don’t think any of the 10 Prem clubs would find it a struggle to drive to Wales for a weekend game.”
Wales wing faces injury lay-off
Cardiff wing Mason Grady faces a race against time to prove his fitness for the Nations Cup in the summer after fracturing his thumb in their victory over the Scarlets.
The 24-year-old had a fine game in Cardiff’s comeback victory in Llanelli with one 50-metre break in the second half.
But the Wales star fractured his thumb and was forced off the field with his bone sticking out of his hand.
“He’s picked up a fracture in his thumb,” said Cardiff head coach Corniel van Zyl.
“It’s not great. It’s a pity because I thought he was going to score that try but he had broken his hand.”
Wales head coach Steve Tandy could have issues out wide this summer, with Scarlets wing Ellis Mee also leaving the field early with an ankle injury.
Van Zyl was proud of his side’s character after they overturned a 17-point deficit in the final nine minutes to claim a miraculous 28-24 victory over the Scarlets which puts them in a strong position to reach the United Rugby Championship play-offs.
“There was a lot of time in that game where you didn’t think we were going to win,” he said.
“I’ll take it.
“I think the pressure we applied on them for the last 10 minutes was what we wanted to do from the start which we did a little bit in the beginning but then we got stuck in our own half and 22.
“We knew it was going to be interesting but that was next level.
“All the teams are beating each other and you never know how it is going to end up.
“But at least we can control what we do and give us another shot next week.”
Scarlets boss left frustrated
The Scarlets’ interim director of rugby Nigel Davies was left extremely frustrated after his side surrendered a 17-point lead in the final nine minutes as they lost 28-24 to Cardiff.
At 24-7 Cardiff looked down and out after they had been run ragged by the Scarlets but they exploded back into life before Javan Sebastian scored a try at the death.
“We are hugely disappointed with that result at the end of the day,” said Davies.
“We did enough to win but we got a few moments wrong in that last 15 minutes which swung the game Cardiff’s way.
“Fair play to Cardiff for sticking in there and coming away with that result. I give them credit for that.
“There’s just probably five or six key moments in that game which turned it back in their favour.
“In terms of the effort from the boys it was admirable.
“We probably should have scored a few more points in the first-half. We had good field position with a couple of five-metre lineouts which we are not converting.
“That’s hurting us at the moment. It is a tough one to take.”
Davies believes his side need to be more clinical moving forward.
“We’ve been competitive but we haven’t been clinical enough in those key times. I’m not taking anything away from Cardiff,” he said.
“You’ve got to respect what they did but we had a lot of possession, a lot of territory and a lot of field position which is good but we have to convert that into results.”