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<\/p>\nCardiff’s play-off hopes were dented slightly with the 21-15 defeat in Durban<\/p>\n
19:14, 27 Mar 2026Updated 19:14, 27 Mar 2026<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0_JS401376705.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Mason Grady competes in the air against the Sharks(Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency Ltd)<\/p>\n
It was a frustrating evening for Cardiff in Durban.<\/p>\n
Despite coming away from Kings Park with a losing bonus point against the Sharks after their 21-15 defeat, there was the sense that something more had been left out there in their bid for a place in the United Rugby Championship play-offs.<\/p>\n
Parts of the game malfunctioned, key players were lost to injury and chances came and went late on.<\/p>\n
Here are the player ratings from South Africa…<\/p>\n
15. Ioan Lloyd – 6<\/p>\n
Nice hands for Grady’s first. Kicking wasn’t always the best, but his probing nature brings something to Cardiff’s backline.<\/p>\n
14. Mason Grady – 8<\/p>\n
On the end of a lovely pre-planned move to score his first. Then showed plenty of composure to finish off a second. Was superb in the air and looked a running threat throughout.<\/p>\n
When you see him up-end Andre Esterhuizen, you realise just what he could be.<\/p>\n
13. Harri Millard – 5<\/p>\n
Drilled one out on the full that handed the Sharks field position for their second try. Defensively sound.<\/p>\n
12. Ben Thomas – 6<\/p>\n
Decent cross-field kick for Grady’s second, some big hits in midfield and a good rip on Springbok Esterhuizen. Little chance to offer much in attack.<\/p>\n
11. Iwan Stephens – 5<\/p>\n
Spent a lot of the first-half dealing with high balls – which he managed relatively well. Little chance to get ball in hand.<\/p>\n
10. Callum Sheedy – 6<\/p>\n
The Wales fly-half can be a bit too ready to put boot to ball at times – even if Cardiff did get some joy from their kicking game. But, overall, the Wales fly-half marshals this backline well.<\/p>\n
9. Johan Mulder – 6<\/p>\n
Charged down in the build-up to the opening try. But his kicking was otherwise solid. Offers a sniping threat and makes his tackles.<\/p>\n
The new dad was lively upon his return to South Africa.<\/p>\n
1. Corey Domachowski – 5<\/p>\n
Part of a scrum that went well early on. Unfortunately, the Wales prop lasted only 20 minutes before departing injured.<\/p>\n
2. Liam Belcher (capt) – 6<\/p>\n
Some wobbles at the lineout – perhaps unsurprising given Cardiff’s second-row woes – but the Cardiff<\/a> captain always leads by example.<\/p>\n Gets through a load of work on both sides of the ball.<\/p>\n 3. Keiron Assiratti – 5<\/p>\n Not sure if it’s a mark of honour or a terrifying sight when South African opposition change their front-row after half-an-hour.<\/p>\n Having been on top in the scrum early on, the tide turned a little after that.<\/p>\n 4. Josh McNally – N\/A<\/p>\n Forced off injured after 10 minutes to only add to Cardiff’s second-row crisis.<\/p>\n 5. Rory Thornton – 5<\/p>\n Made his tackles, but couldn’t really remedy Cardiff’s lineout issues.<\/p>\n 6. James Botham – 7<\/p>\n Got through plenty of work in defence on his return to domestic duties. Few niggly penalties, but has a knack of delivering when it matters – including a second-half breakdown penalty as the Sharks were looking to pull away.<\/p>\n 7. Dan Thomas – 7<\/p>\n One textbook breakdown penalty in the first-half. Got through a mountain of work, too – leading the tackle count and being a nuisance throughout.<\/p>\n Knock-on from the maul two minutes from time was the only blot on his copybook.<\/p>\n 8. Taulupe Faletau – 8<\/p>\n Class shines through with every touch. Cardiff’s go-to carrier – can be the silk glove or the iron fist. Beats defenders for fun and was the key for Grady’s first try.<\/p>\n So cruel to see him once again depart injured so soon after his last comeback. You just hope this isn’t it for the 35-year-old.<\/p>\n Replacements:<\/p>\n 16. Dafydd Hughes – 5<\/p>\n Similar to Belcher, lineout was a problem. Gives everything in the loose, though.<\/p>\n 17. Danny Southworth – 5<\/p>\n On after 20 minutes. Got through his fair share of tackles in his time on the pitch, but had some tough times at the scrum.<\/p>\n 18. Javan Sebastian – 5<\/p>\n Like the other front-rows, few issues at the scrum.<\/p>\n 19. Alun Lawrence – 6<\/p>\n Brought into the second-row sooner than expected. In an unfamiliar position, he gave his all. Carried as he usually does.<\/p>\n Couldn’t hold onto a crucial lineout late on, though.<\/p>\n 20. Taine Basham – 7<\/p>\n Carries with little concern for himself. Brings so much energy to proceedings. The best compliment you can pay him is he filled the Faletau-shaped hole in the back-row fairly well.<\/p>\n 21. Ellis Bevan – 6<\/p>\n Daft penalty for being infront of the kicker. So close to a 50:22 moments later. Decent cameo.<\/p>\n 22. Rory Jennings – 5<\/p>\n Some nice touches, but little time to make an impact.<\/p>\n 23. Elijah Evans – 5<\/p>\n Got on the end of a trademark Sheedy kick-pass, but couldn’t gather it cleanly.<\/p>\n Follow all of our channels to ensure you stay up to date with the latest Welsh rugby news. Sign up to our free daily newsletter here<\/a> and our WhatsApp channel here<\/a> for all the breaking news.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cardiff’s play-off hopes were dented slightly with the 21-15 defeat in Durban 19:14, 27 Mar 2026Updated 19:14, 27…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":499274,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[10579,5903,101,88685,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-499273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-cardiff-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-taulupe-faletau","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=499273"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499273\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/499274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=499273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=499273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=499273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}