Cardiff v Treviso

[Dacre]

Live on BBC2 Wales and online

17 - 3 after 33 mins

[UKHamlet]

A good result, although Treviso were pretty poor. The Blues have attacking options all over the park and Patchell may well rue his decision to leave for Parc y Scarlets. Disappointed we didn't clock up sixty, but can't sniff at 56 points and an eight try haul.

MoM Turnbull was bloody fantastic, and Navidi seems to have found his position at Number 8. Ellis Jenkins put in a good shift too.

[cadofyddol]

A good result, although Treviso were pretty poor. The Blues have attacking options all over the park and Patchell may well rue his decision to leave for Parc y Scarlets. Disappointed we didn't clock up sixty, but can't sniff at 56 points and an eight try haul.

MoM Turnbull was bloody fantastic, and Navidi seems to have found his position at Number 8. Ellis Jenkins put in a good shift too.

Do you think?

He wants to play 10 and he's clearly behind Anscombe in the coaches opinion. As much as Cardiff are starting to put a team together the Scarlets backs are far superior.
Whilst Lloyd is a better 'scrum half' than Gareth Davies, Davies's and Patchell's pace could be lethal. Add Scott and Foxy outside them with DTH and Liam in the back three and it looks a good set of backs.

Also even if Wilson had of persuaded Patchell that his future is at fullback, he may well have been second choice there too when Rhun breaks through.
I was very impressed with him in the U20s, the way he straightened the line, drew the defender and gave a cracking try scoring pass was fantastic.

[UKHamlet]

By the same token, a back line of Nipper, Dan Fish or Cuthbert, Corey Allen, Rey Lee-Lo, Tom James; Gareth Anscombe and Lloyd Williams or Tavis looks pretty effective - the Scarlets aren't even better, never mind far superior. Our back row is looking like the best in the league with Warburton, Navidi or Vosawai, Turnbull or Jenkins. Our second row needs building and our front row is lacking a bit in scrummaging strength, but I reckon they're the most mobile in Wales - Jenkins, Andrews, and Dacey can all carry ball effectively. With a decent coach at last, I can see Cardiff doing things.

I see we're away to the Scarlets on 2nd April. I'll be at that game - it should be entertaining. We'll be coming off the back of two bonus point wins and I fancy us to give the Scarlets a bit of a game. They'll probably have a bit too much for us at the moment, but we're not the finished article yet.

[cadofyddol]

By the same token, a back line of Nipper, Dan Fish or Cuthbert, Corey Allen, Rey Lee-Lo, Tom James; Gareth Anscombe and Lloyd Williams or Tavis looks pretty effective - the Scarlets aren't even better, never mind far superior. Our back row is looking like the best in the league with Warburton, Navidi or Vosawai, Turnbull or Jenkins. Our second row needs building and our front row is lacking a bit in scrummaging strength, but I reckon they're the most mobile in Wales - Jenkins, Andrews, and Dacey can all carry ball effectively. With a decent coach at last, I can see Cardiff doing things.

I see we're away to the Scarlets on 2nd April. I'll be at that game - it should be entertaining. We'll be coming off the back of two bonus point wins and I fancy us to give the Scarlets a bit of a game. They'll probably have a bit too much for us at the moment, but we're not the finished article yet.

I'm not a Scarlets fan but you need to take your Blue tinted specs off!
Nipper or Fish are way below Liam William's standard. Cuthbert is horribly out of form, and even when on form a liability in defence. Corey Allen makes Foxy's passing look like Gavin Henson's and has had terrible luck with injuries. For me the Scarlets centres are far superior to Cardiff's and I've not mentioned Hadleigh Parkes yet, who may well play on the other wing.
Anscombe is yet to deliver for me, but with a bit more time in a settled team may be the real deal.
I'd take the Scarlets backline over the Blues every day of the week.

I wasn't comparing the forwards, but the Scarlets have what should be the current Welsh front row. Since when has Jenkins been an effective carrier?
For me Cardiff's second row is their weakest area, but I agree that the back row is decent if a little unbalanced at times. Not sure I would label them the best in the league though.

[Billyfish]

Good confident performance, brilliant to see, against a poor Trevisio but a season or two ago that game may have been a struggle. Could have done with drawing the man in a number of their wider moves early on, possibly made harder work of the first half than needed to.

[Billyfish]

By the same token, a back line of Nipper, Dan Fish or Cuthbert, Corey Allen, Rey Lee-Lo, Tom James; Gareth Anscombe and Lloyd Williams or Tavis looks pretty effective - the Scarlets aren't even better, never mind far superior.

Outrageous Hammy. I'm outraged.

[UKHamlet]

By the same token, a back line of Nipper, Dan Fish or Cuthbert, Corey Allen, Rey Lee-Lo, Tom James; Gareth Anscombe and Lloyd Williams or Tavis looks pretty effective - the Scarlets aren't even better, never mind far superior. Our back row is looking like the best in the league with Warburton, Navidi or Vosawai, Turnbull or Jenkins. Our second row needs building and our front row is lacking a bit in scrummaging strength, but I reckon they're the most mobile in Wales - Jenkins, Andrews, and Dacey can all carry ball effectively. With a decent coach at last, I can see Cardiff doing things.

I see we're away to the Scarlets on 2nd April. I'll be at that game - it should be entertaining. We'll be coming off the back of two bonus point wins and I fancy us to give the Scarlets a bit of a game. They'll probably have a bit too much for us at the moment, but we're not the finished article yet.

I'm not a Scarlets fan but you need to take your Blue tinted specs off!
Nipper or Fish are way below Liam William's standard. Cuthbert is horribly out of form, and even when on form a liability in defence. Corey Allen makes Foxy's passing look like Gavin Henson's and has had terrible luck with injuries. For me the Scarlets centres are far superior to Cardiff's and I've not mentioned Hadleigh Parkes yet, who may well play on the other wing.
Anscombe is yet to deliver for me, but with a bit more time in a settled team may be the real deal.
I'd take the Scarlets backline over the Blues every day of the week.

I wasn't comparing the forwards, but the Scarlets have what should be the current Welsh front row. Since when has Jenkins been an effective carrier?
For me Cardiff's second row is their weakest area, but I agree that the back row is decent if a little unbalanced at times. Not sure I would label them the best in the league though.

I'm not a Liam Williams fan - he's a one trick pony. Nipper is a better runner with the ball by miles, but Williams has a better positional sense and is pretty good in the air. Fish's future is at wing.

Even if Cuthbert is out of form, he's still a street and half better than anything the Scarlets have. Even Tom James on the other wing is better than anything the Scarlets can put on the park.

Corey Allen is the future as far as Wales is concerned. Foxy is still good, but he's past his best. I think, in terms of passing ability, they're about the same, but Allen is improving.

Hadleigh Parkes is a good player, but so is Lee-Lo and I would prefer to have the latter in my side.

At scrum-half, I think it's six of one, half a dozen of the other. Both sides have their assets and there's not much in it.

I go to a lot of Scarlets home games - they're only down the road from me, as are the Ospreys, but I can't stand them. My impression is they are a good side that's lacking something special, particularly amongst the forwards and come the end of next season. Cardiff will finish higher than the Scarlets, in my view.

[cadofyddol]

By the same token, a back line of Nipper, Dan Fish or Cuthbert, Corey Allen, Rey Lee-Lo, Tom James; Gareth Anscombe and Lloyd Williams or Tavis looks pretty effective - the Scarlets aren't even better, never mind far superior. Our back row is looking like the best in the league with Warburton, Navidi or Vosawai, Turnbull or Jenkins. Our second row needs building and our front row is lacking a bit in scrummaging strength, but I reckon they're the most mobile in Wales - Jenkins, Andrews, and Dacey can all carry ball effectively. With a decent coach at last, I can see Cardiff doing things.

I see we're away to the Scarlets on 2nd April. I'll be at that game - it should be entertaining. We'll be coming off the back of two bonus point wins and I fancy us to give the Scarlets a bit of a game. They'll probably have a bit too much for us at the moment, but we're not the finished article yet.

I'm not a Scarlets fan but you need to take your Blue tinted specs off!
Nipper or Fish are way below Liam William's standard. Cuthbert is horribly out of form, and even when on form a liability in defence. Corey Allen makes Foxy's passing look like Gavin Henson's and has had terrible luck with injuries. For me the Scarlets centres are far superior to Cardiff's and I've not mentioned Hadleigh Parkes yet, who may well play on the other wing.
Anscombe is yet to deliver for me, but with a bit more time in a settled team may be the real deal.
I'd take the Scarlets backline over the Blues every day of the week.

I wasn't comparing the forwards, but the Scarlets have what should be the current Welsh front row. Since when has Jenkins been an effective carrier?
For me Cardiff's second row is their weakest area, but I agree that the back row is decent if a little unbalanced at times. Not sure I would label them the best in the league though.

I'm not a Liam Williams fan - he's a one trick pony. Nipper is a better runner with the ball by miles, but Williams has a better positional sense and is pretty good in the air. Fish's future is at wing.

Even if Cuthbert is out of form, he's still a street and half better than anything the Scarlets have. Even Tom James on the other wing is better than anything the Scarlets can put on the park.

Corey Allen is the future as far as Wales is concerned. Foxy is still good, but he's past his best. I think, in terms of passing ability, they're about the same, but Allen is improving.

Hadleigh Parkes is a good player, but so is Lee-Lo and I would prefer to have the latter in my side.

At scrum-half, I think it's six of one, half a dozen of the other. Both sides have their assets and there's not much in it.

I go to a lot of Scarlets home games - they're only down the road from me, as are the Ospreys, but I can't stand them. My impression is they are a good side that's lacking something special, particularly amongst the forwards and come the end of next season. Cardiff will finish higher than the Scarlets, in my view.

Nipper is a liability in defence and under the highball, he'll also get turned over running it back as often as he makes a break. Nipper may side step more players than Liam, but Liam will run the better lines and offer a bigger running threat, and is imo streets ahead of Nipper at FB. I wouldn't be surprised if Nipper gets usurped by Rhun next season.

I'm not sure Cuthbert's all round game is better than DTH, and given the choice of DTH and Parkes on the wing or Cuthbert and James, I'd definitely go for the Scarlets pair.

You've obviously seen a lot more of Corey Allan than I have, but every time I see him I'm hugely disappointed. I had high hopes on him progressing from U20s level, but apart from always being injured, I don't think that he's even international quality. I hope he proves me wrong though as Wales could definitely do with a bit more competition in the centre, but at the moment if he is the future for Wales then God help us!

I've not seen a huge amount of Rey, but from what I have seen I'd take Scott Williams over him for sure.

I think the half backs are where it is the closest between the two sides.

Cardiff are making some decent signings, so it depends on how the Scarlets recruitment goes as to how they compete next season. I rate Danny Wilson very highly, but think it may be a bit of a stretch for him to get Cardiff above the Scarlets next season.

The Scarlets have got an excellent front row, a decent second row, although not seen a great deal of Bulbring yet, and an unbalanced but talented backrow. If they can recruit in the second row and back row I think they'll be comfortably ahead of Cardiff next season.

[Son of Mathonwy]

By the same token, a back line of Nipper, Dan Fish or Cuthbert, Corey Allen, Rey Lee-Lo, Tom James; Gareth Anscombe and Lloyd Williams or Tavis looks pretty effective - the Scarlets aren't even better, never mind far superior. Our back row is looking like the best in the league with Warburton, Navidi or Vosawai, Turnbull or Jenkins. Our second row needs building and our front row is lacking a bit in scrummaging strength, but I reckon they're the most mobile in Wales - Jenkins, Andrews, and Dacey can all carry ball effectively. With a decent coach at last, I can see Cardiff doing things.

I see we're away to the Scarlets on 2nd April. I'll be at that game - it should be entertaining. We'll be coming off the back of two bonus point wins and I fancy us to give the Scarlets a bit of a game. They'll probably have a bit too much for us at the moment, but we're not the finished article yet.

I'm not a Scarlets fan but you need to take your Blue tinted specs off!
Nipper or Fish are way below Liam William's standard. Cuthbert is horribly out of form, and even when on form a liability in defence. Corey Allen makes Foxy's passing look like Gavin Henson's and has had terrible luck with injuries. For me the Scarlets centres are far superior to Cardiff's and I've not mentioned Hadleigh Parkes yet, who may well play on the other wing.
Anscombe is yet to deliver for me, but with a bit more time in a settled team may be the real deal.
I'd take the Scarlets backline over the Blues every day of the week.

I wasn't comparing the forwards, but the Scarlets have what should be the current Welsh front row. Since when has Jenkins been an effective carrier?
For me Cardiff's second row is their weakest area, but I agree that the back row is decent if a little unbalanced at times. Not sure I would label them the best in the league though.

I'm not a Liam Williams fan - he's a one trick pony. Nipper is a better runner with the ball by miles, but Williams has a better positional sense and is pretty good in the air. Fish's future is at wing.

Even if Cuthbert is out of form, he's still a street and half better than anything the Scarlets have. Even Tom James on the other wing is better than anything the Scarlets can put on the park.

Corey Allen is the future as far as Wales is concerned. Foxy is still good, but he's past his best. I think, in terms of passing ability, they're about the same, but Allen is improving.

Hadleigh Parkes is a good player, but so is Lee-Lo and I would prefer to have the latter in my side.

At scrum-half, I think it's six of one, half a dozen of the other. Both sides have their assets and there's not much in it.

I go to a lot of Scarlets home games - they're only down the road from me, as are the Ospreys, but I can't stand them. My impression is they are a good side that's lacking something special, particularly amongst the forwards and come the end of next season. Cardiff will finish higher than the Scarlets, in my view.

I'm glad that Cardiff are on the up, but as an Ospreys supporter I still worry more about playing the Scarlets than the Blues. (Not that I find either all that worrying )

[cadofyddol]

I'm glad that Cardiff are on the up, but as an Ospreys supporter I still worry more about playing the Scarlets than the Blues. (Not that I find either all that worrying )

The worrying thing for the Ospreys is that both the Scarlets and the Blues seem to be on the up whereas they are on the decline.
I still think the Ospreys have the players to be better than both, they've just been unlucky with players missing through injury or internationals, but the most worrying thing for me is the coaching staff.

[UKHamlet]

I'm glad that Cardiff are on the up, but as an Ospreys supporter I still worry more about playing the Scarlets than the Blues. (Not that I find either all that worrying )

And so you should, they gave you a good seeing to today.

[Son of Mathonwy]

I'm glad that Cardiff are on the up, but as an Ospreys supporter I still worry more about playing the Scarlets than the Blues. (Not that I find either all that worrying )

And so you should, they gave you a good seeing to today.

Alas, that's the Ospreys out of Europe. The RWC really stung them this year.

[cadofyddol]

I'm glad that Cardiff are on the up, but as an Ospreys supporter I still worry more about playing the Scarlets than the Blues. (Not that I find either all that worrying )

And so you should, they gave you a good seeing to today.

Alas, that's the Ospreys out of Europe. The RWC really stung them this year.

Even taking the RWC into account I think they had the squad to be top 6. For me the failure lies with the coaches and I think it's time they were replaced.

[Sandydragon]

And so you should, they gave you a good seeing to today.

Alas, that's the Ospreys out of Europe. The RWC really stung them this year.

Even taking the RWC into account I think they had the squad to be top 6. For me the failure lies with the coaches and I think it's time they were replaced.

They weren't the only team hit by the RWC. I agree, they haven't seemed to be hitting top gear for much of the season.

[Son of Mathonwy]

Alas, that's the Ospreys out of Europe. The RWC really stung them this year.

Even taking the RWC into account I think they had the squad to be top 6. For me the failure lies with the coaches and I think it's time they were replaced.

They weren't the only team hit by the RWC. I agree, they haven't seemed to be hitting top gear for much of the season.

Agreed they should have made top 6 regardless, but they certainly did badly while the Wales players were away at the RWC. It seems that the O's often fall short of what they could achieve with their squad. I'm not sure they've ever had a decent coaching team. But hey, at least it isn't Holley & Johnson anymore...

[UKHamlet]

By the same token, a back line of Nipper, Dan Fish or Cuthbert, Corey Allen, Rey Lee-Lo, Tom James; Gareth Anscombe and Lloyd Williams or Tavis looks pretty effective - the Scarlets aren't even better, never mind far superior. Our back row is looking like the best in the league with Warburton, Navidi or Vosawai, Turnbull or Jenkins. Our second row needs building and our front row is lacking a bit in scrummaging strength, but I reckon they're the most mobile in Wales - Jenkins, Andrews, and Dacey can all carry ball effectively. With a decent coach at last, I can see Cardiff doing things.

I see we're away to the Scarlets on 2nd April. I'll be at that game - it should be entertaining. We'll be coming off the back of two bonus point wins and I fancy us to give the Scarlets a bit of a game. They'll probably have a bit too much for us at the moment, but we're not the finished article yet.

I'm not a Scarlets fan but you need to take your Blue tinted specs off!
Nipper or Fish are way below Liam William's standard. Cuthbert is horribly out of form, and even when on form a liability in defence. Corey Allen makes Foxy's passing look like Gavin Henson's and has had terrible luck with injuries. For me the Scarlets centres are far superior to Cardiff's and I've not mentioned Hadleigh Parkes yet, who may well play on the other wing.
Anscombe is yet to deliver for me, but with a bit more time in a settled team may be the real deal.
I'd take the Scarlets backline over the Blues every day of the week.

I wasn't comparing the forwards, but the Scarlets have what should be the current Welsh front row. Since when has Jenkins been an effective carrier?
For me Cardiff's second row is their weakest area, but I agree that the back row is decent if a little unbalanced at times. Not sure I would label them the best in the league though.

Superiority