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18.04.26 \u2013 Scarlets v Cardiff Rugby \u2013 United Rugby Championship \u2013 Cardiff celebrate at the final whistle<\/p>\nJacob Beetham is preparing for what he believes could be one of Cardiff Rugby\u2019s biggest games of the season, as they face Ospreys at Cardiff Arms Park on Friday night.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0going to be a pivotal game for us to try and get the win. Any derby game is an important game and one you want to win, but Friday night lights against the Ospreys. I\u00a0couldn\u2019t\u00a0ask for a better occasion.\u201d<\/p>\n
With a sell-out crowd expected, the derby comes at a crucial point in the season as Cardiff push for a top eight finish in the United Rugby Championship.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it might be one of the biggest games of the season to be honest. I think it\u2019s definitely one of the best places when there\u2019s a packed-out crowd,\u201d he added. \u201cI\u2019m looking forward to it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Coming back off\u00a0the\u00a0crucial victory\u00a0against the Scarlets last weekend, Beetham helped his keep their play-off push on\u00a0track, while also celebrating his 25th birthday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was\u00a0literally thinking\u00a060 minutes in, \u2018oh no\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0gonna\u00a0be the worst birthday ever,\u201d\u00a0Beetham explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut no, it was great, it was a really good feeling after coming back the way we did.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The victory could prove crucial as the race for the playoff places tightens, with several teams between fourth and ninth separated by just a few points.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGiven the playoff situation it means that little bit more. It would have killed us if we lost that, especially because we know we\u2019re in that contention for top eight and\u00a0looking at the leaderboard\u00a0it is so tight, it was so important to win that game.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
18.04.26 \u2013 Scarlets v Cardiff Rugby \u2013 United Rugby Championship \u2013 Cardiff celebrate at the final whistle<\/p>\n
Cardiff have had a stop\u00a0start schedule in recent months, with large breaks added throughout the URC calendar. While the rest is often welcomed by the players, Beetham believes a run of games could help build momentum as we reach the crucial stage of the season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0think\u00a0we\u2019ve\u00a0had a game back-to-back for a while now. We\u2019ve kind of had breaks here and there,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s actually quite nice getting straight back into it, with the momentum from the wins.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Having players who can operate in multiple positions has always been a valuable asset for teams and coaches. Beetham, in particular, has been praised for his ability to feature across the backline, spending increasing time on the wing, and says he is happy to play wherever needed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhatever position they\u2019ll play me, I don\u2019t really mind\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll just try and do my best whichever shoe I have on to be honest. A few injuries on the wing as well, so I\u2019m more than happy to play there and try and do the job.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the Brucie bonus of playing that position. You find yourself in more positions to score.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Beetham has also gained a reputation for his ability in the air, an increasingly important part of the game now with the amount\u00a0of tactical kicks. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always had some confidence in competing for the ball, I kind of enjoy it\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has become a big part of the\u00a0game\u00a0and the game is always evolving and changing, so it\u2019s trying to just adapt to whatever is important at the time.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
With play-off stakes rising and a fierce derby ahead, Cardiff\u2019s clash with\u00a0Ospreys on Friday night\u00a0could prove decisive in the race for the top eight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jacob Beetham is preparing for what he believes could be one of Cardiff Rugby\u2019s biggest games of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":547614,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-547613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547613","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=547613"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547613\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/547614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=547613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=547613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=547613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}