Sherratt wants more of the same from his Cardiff side

Cardiff head coach Matt Sherratt. Pic: Matteo Ciambelli

MATT Sherratt last week set his Cardiff Rugby side the ambitious challenge of picking up 10 points against Ospreys and Munster in the space of seven days to keep the team on track for a first BKT United Rugby Championship play-off place.

Everything went to plan against the Ospreys on Judgement Day with a six try, 39-19 win at Principality Stadium and now he is setting his sights on the doing the same against Munster at the Arms Park tomorrow night.

The Welsh region currently sit one point ahead of Munster in sixth place with back-to-back games in South Africa to come to complete their regular season campaign. Making the most of home comforts is uppermost in Sherratt’s mind before tackling the Bulls and Stormers.

“Our fans have got history in terms of when the club needs them. They usually come out en masse, so let’s hope we can get the Arms Park rocking on Friday night,” said Sherratt.

“It will be a big occasion for many reasons. There’s the league table, but there’s also going to be some personal reasons. It will be some people’s last home game for the club.

“The Arms Park is always a special place to play and we will definitely use that in the week to build the players up. Our goal has been to try to get 10 points out of our games against the Ospreys and Munster.

“The league is so tight and the reality is South Africa is a tough place to go and pick up points. We looked four or five weeks ago at what gets you in the play-offs and a guaranteed number is probably around 50 points.

“I think this year it may be one or two less because of the competitive nature of the league with everyone beating each other. It’s pretty tight and so to get to that target means last weekend and this Friday are massive.

“We need to pick up those 10 points and it started with those five points and six tries against our local rivals at Judgement Day. It’s made us the most successful Welsh region in terms of the derbies and that’s big for us as a club, especially with the backdrop of the last couple of weeks.” 

To their credit, the Cardiff players put the off-field drama of the club going into administration and then being taken over by the Welsh Rugby Union in a matter of days in their stride and had bagged a bonus-point by half-time against the Ospreys at Principality Stadium.

Not for the first time in recent years the players found themselves worrying about their futures. They refused to let that upset the progress they have made on the field this season and a similar performance against Munster would be another major breakthrough.

“I think it would be massive for us to make the play-offs. When I took the job, I was thinking I would love to get us into a play-off or a knock-out game within three years,” added Sherratt “We’re in the fight, aren’t we? That’s against a backdrop of quite a lot of negativity and a lot of twists and turns over the last two years.

“That’s credit to the players how they have reacted. It would have been so easy for them to down tools in the last two weeks.

“If they can show the heart they have shown over the last two years and the ambition they have with the ball, that’s what 90% of people will judge Cardiff on, not the stuff off the pitch. They have done themselves proud.”

You have to go back to 17 September 2022 for Cardiff’s last win over an Irish province in the URC and Europe. That was a 20-13 triumph over Munster at the Arms Park and since then they have lost 12 in a row to Irish opposition.

That said they have won two of their last three URC games and lost only once in their last five URC outings in the Welsh capital — a 42-22 defeat to The Sharks.

They will come into the game with momentum and with an expecting full house to roar them on they will no doubt be a handful for Munster in a game both sides need to win.