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“Credit to Carmarthen, they stuck at it, and made it a really good contest”
Carmarthen Quins saw their hopes of league silverware come to an end when they suffered defeat at the Arms Park.
Cardiff head coach Dan Fish was delighted to see his side get the job done against the Quins to set up a Super Rygbi Cymru play-off semi-final showdown with Llandovery.
Fly-half Harri Wilde and right wing Elijah Evans were both at the double, with scrum-half Ethan Lloyd, left wing Dewi Cross and No. 8 Lucas de la Rua also on the scoresheet.
Wilde converted six of their seven tries to end with a 22-point haul, while replacement Lloyd Lucas added a penalty.
“It was a patchy, sticky game,” said Fish. “Some parts of the game we played very well, and other parts we lost that little bit of control.
“Overall, really pleased to come away with the win.”
Cardiff scored first seven minutes in when, after some brilliant handling, Wilde raced over for the opening try, which he also converted.
He repeated the trick six minutes later, scoring his and Cardiff’s second try after good work from centre Osian Darwin-Lewis set him up. Wilde again converted.
The Quins hit back with a try from scrum-half Rhodri Davies on 25 minutes, crossing from close range after quickly taking a penalty. Steffan Jac Jones converted.
However, four minutes later the hosts were over for their third try. Prop Ioan Emanuel barged through the Quins defence, before Lloyd gathered to score. Wilde converted.
Try number four arrived three minutes later, with Evans scoring after more exquisite build-up play. Wilde again converted.
Cardiff were cutting loose and on 37 minutes it was 33-7, as Darwin-Lewis pounced on a loose ball and Cross scored home try number five, his 15th of the season and 67th in 82 games for the club. This time Wilde’s conversion went wide.
No. 8 Lewys Millin’s try right on half-time, converted by Jac Jones, kept the Quins in with a shout. And 10 minutes into the second half, they scored their third try, with Scarlets full-back Ioan Nicholas darting along the touchline to score.
Jac Jones converted to cut Cardiff’s lead to 33-21.
But any faint hopes of a revival were soon dashed.
A fourth Carmarthen try scored by wing Tomos Lewis was sandwiched between two further Cardiff tries courtesy of Evans and de la Rua, both converted by Wilde, to make it 47-26.
The visitors grabbed a fifth try, scored from close range by replacement Iestyn Wood and converted by Jac Jones, but the final say went to Cardiff with replacement Lucas nailing a penalty to bring up 50 points.
The game also marked a century of Cardiff appearances for flanker Nathan Hudd.
“The game was a bit end-to-end. We could have put it away in the first half, but we let them back in,” he said.
“Credit to Carmarthen, they stuck at it, and made it a really good contest.”
Llandovery overcome RGC
Llandovery booked a semi-final trip to Cardiff after they overcame RGC 36-30 at Church Bank.
Wing Harri Doel’s 78th-minute try eventually settled the match in the Drovers’ favour.
Prop Jamie Hughes and hooker Cam Lewis had both earlier scored twice for Llandovery. Ioan Hughes added 11 points from the tee.
RGC more than played their part. Full-back Dion Jones, centre Delwyn Jones, back-rower Dafydd Thirsk and Dragons-bound wing Caio Parry were their try scorers.
Billy McBryde kicked the rest of the points.
