2024–25 Cardiff Rugby season

The 2024–25 season is Cardiff's fourth season in the United Rugby Championship. Along with competing in the URC and its Welsh Shield competition, the club also participate in the 2024-25 European Rugby Challenge Cup.

Cardiff Rugby

2024–25 season
Head coach	Matt Sherratt
Chairman	Alun Jones
United Rugby Championship	9th
Challenge Cup	Round of 16
← 2023–24 2025–26 →

Senior squad

For player movements before or during the 2024–25 season, see List of 2024–25 United Rugby Championship transfers § Cardiff.

Cardiff Rugby United Rugby Championship squad[a]
Props Keiron Assiratti Rhys Barratt Ed Byrne Will Davies-King Corey Domachowski Joe Cowell Rhys Litterick* Danny Southworth* Hookers Liam Belcher (c) Efan Daniel Dafydd Hughes Evan Lloyd Locks Seb Davies Ben Donnell Josh McNally Rory Thornton Teddy Williams	Back row James Botham Gwilym Bradley Lucas de la Rua Taulupe Faletau Alun Lawrence Alex Mann Mackenzie Martin Dan Thomas Thomas Young Scrum-halves Ellis Bevan Aled Davies Johan Mulder Fly-halves Tinus de Beer Callum Sheedy Harri Wilde	Centres Steffan Emanuel Mason Grady Rory Jennings Rey Lee-Lo Harri Millard Ben Thomas Wings Josh Adams Tom Bowen Theo Cabango Regan GraceST Gabriel Hamer-Webb* Iwan Stephens* Fullbacks Jacob Beetham Cameron Winnett
(c) denotes the team captain, Bold denotes internationally capped players. * denotes players qualified to play for Wales on residency or dual nationality. ST denotes a player on a short-term deal at the club, Players and their allocated positions from the Cardiff Rugby website.[1] Taking into account signings and departures head of 2024–25 season as listed on List of 2024–25 United Rugby Championship transfers.

Academy squad

Cardiff Rugby Academy squad[a]
Props Dylan Barratt Harrison Rock Cameron Tyler-Grocott Hookers Tom Howe Locks Lucca Alexander-White Sonny McCabe	Back row Alfie Prygodzicz Evan Rees Scrum-halves Sion Davies Fly-halves Ben Coomer	Centres Osian Darwin-Lewis Elijah Evans Ioan Leyshon Wings Ollie Das Joseff Jones Kodie Stone Fullbacks Matty Young
(c) denotes the team captain, Bold denotes internationally capped players. * denotes players qualified to play for Wales on residency or dual nationality. Players and their allocated positions from the Cardiff Rugby website.[2] Taking into account signings and departures ahead of the 2024–25 season as listed on List of 2024–25 United Rugby Championship transfers.

United Rugby Championship

Main table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts	Qualification
1	Leinster	18	16	0	2	542	256	+286	79	35	11	1	76	Qualifies for home URC quarter-final; Qualification for the 2025–26 Champions Cup
2	Bulls	18	14	0	4	542	361	+181	71	44	9	3	68
3	Sharks	18	13	0	5	436	402	+34	55	59	7	3	62
4	Glasgow Warriors	18	11	0	7	468	327	+141	70	40	10	5	59
5	Stormers	18	10	0	8	507	418	+89	66	57	11	4	55	Qualifies for URC quarter-final; Qualification for the 2025–26 Champions Cup
6	Munster	18	9	0	9	444	429	+15	67	59	11	4	51
7	Edinburgh	18	8	1	9	471	407	+64	66	57	9	6	49
8	Scarlets	18	9	1	8	427	382	+45	50	52	6	4	48
9	Cardiff	18	8	1	9	409	477	−68	63	65	10	3	47	Qualification for the 2025–26 Challenge Cup
10	Benetton	18	9	1	8	393	478	−85	50	65	7	1	46
11	Lions	18	8	0	10	402	440	−38	53	60	5	3	40
12	Ospreys	18	7	1	10	437	454	−17	60	63	6	4	40
13	Connacht	18	6	0	12	420	472	−52	64	62	9	6	39
14	Ulster	18	7	0	11	414	506	−92	59	72	5	5	38
15	Zebre Parma	18	5	1	12	302	503	−201	38	72	3	4	29
16	Dragons	18	1	0	17	335	637	−302	43	92	1	4	9

Source: UnitedRugby.com
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers for teams tied on points: 1) Number of matches won 2) The difference between points for and points against 3) The number of tries scored 4) The most points scored 5) The difference between tries for and tries against 6) The fewest red cards received 7) The fewest yellow cards received.^[3]

Round 1

20 September 2024 19:35

(1 BP) Cardiff	22–17	Zebre Parma (1 BP)
Try: Winnett 9' c Stephens 18' m D. Thomas 23' m McNally 56' m Con: Sheedy 10' (1/4)		Try: Bertaccini 64' c Locatelli 81' c Con: Da Re (2/2) 65', 82' Pen: Montemauri 8'

Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff Attendance: 6,291[4] Referee: Eoghan Cross (Ireland)

Round 2

28 September 2024 17:15

Scarlets	15–24	Cardiff (1 BP)
Try: Page 1' c Plumtree 10' m Con: Costelow (1/2) 1' Pen: Costelow (1) 4'		Try: Belcher 17' m Grady 21' c Millard 56' B. Thomas 62' Con: Sheedy (2/4) 21', 63'

Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli Attendance: 7,355[5] Referee: Christopher Allison (South Africa)

Round 3

4 October 2024 19:35

(1 BP) Cardiff	36–52	Glasgow Warriors (1 BP)
Try: D. Thomas 11' c Winnett 19' m Byrne 46' c Martin 52' c Donnell 67' c Con: Sheedy (1/2) 12' de Beer (3/3) 47', 54' 69' Pen: de Beer (1/1) 59'		Try: Dobie 5' c Rowe (2) 21' m, 74' m Jordan (2) 29' c, 74' m Tuipulotu 34' c Jones 37' c M. Fagerson 74' m Con: Jordan (5/6) 6', 30', 35', 39', 64' Weir (1/2) 72'

Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff Attendance: 6,237[6] Referee: Morné Ferreira (South Africa)

Round 4

12 October 2024 15:00

(1 BP) Cardiff	19–25	Scarlets
Try: Millard 22' c, 43' m Penalty try 66' Con: de Beer 23' (1/1)		Try: G. Davies (2) 32' m, 46' c J. Williams 59' c Con: Lloyd (2/3) 47', 60' Pen: Lloyd (2) 8', 16'

Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff Attendance: 12,125[7] Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)

Round 5

19 October 2024 17:15

(1 BP) Edinburgh	27–8	Cardiff
Try: van der Merwe 45' c Schoeman 61' m Graham 64' m Ashman 78' c Con: Thompson (2/4) 46', 79' Pen: Thompson 6'		Try: Young 28' m Pen: Sheedy 57'

Hive Stadium, Edinburgh Attendance: 6,507[7] Referee: Morné Ferreira, South Africa

Round 6

26 October 2024 19:35

Cardiff	21–19	Ulster (1 BP)
Try: Stephens 48' c Hughes 64' c Young 67' c Con: Sheedy (3/3) 49', 65', 68'		Try: Izuchukwu 13' c Postlethwaite (2) 17' c, 23' m Con: Doak (2/3) 14', 18'

Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff Attendance: 8,312[8] Referee: Sam Grove-White, Scotland

Round 7

30 November 2024 17:15

(1 BP) Cardiff	31–23	Dragons
Try: Mann 31' c Millard 42' c Sheedy 42' c Lee-Lo 49' c Con: Sheedy (4/4) 32', 43', 43', 50' Pen: Sheedy 7'		Try: Lloyd 64' c Seiuli 71' c Con: O'Brien (2/2) 65', 72' Pen: O'Brien (3) 11', 23', 28'

Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff Attendance: 9,638[9] Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)

Round 8

26 December 2024 15:00

(1 BP) Dragons	22-24	Cardiff (1 BP)
Try: Wainwright 14' c Dyer 19' m R. Williams 68' c Con: O'Brien (2/3) 15', 69' Pen: O'Brien 17'	Report	Try: Williams 32' m Adams 44' c Hamer-Webb 56' c Lloyd 75' m Con: Sheedy (2/4) 45', 57'

Rodney Parade, Newport Attendance: 8,511[10] Referee: Adam Jones

Round 9

1 January 2025 15:00

Cardiff	13–13	Ospreys
Try: Botham 6' Hughes 53' Pen: Thomas 70'	Report	Try: Edwards 49' Con: Edwards 50' Pen: Edwards (2) 31', 68'

Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff Attendance: 12,125 [11]

Round 10

25 January 2025 17:15

Cardiff	22–42	Sharks
Try: Mann 6' m Bowen (2) 36' m, 43' c Hamer-Webb 57' m Con: Sheedy (1/4) 44'		Try: Mbonambi (2) 14' c, 41' c Julius 17' c Mapimpi 31' c F. Venter 72' c Penxe 75' c Con: Jo. Hendrikse (6/6) 14', 18', 32', 41', 73', 76'

Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff Attendance: 11,687

Round 11

15 February 2025	(1 BP) Connacht	24–19	Cardiff (1BP)	The Sportsground, Galway
19:35	Try: Murphy, 7'c Hurley-Langton, 17'c Heffernan, 47' Tierney-Martin, 75 Con: Ioane (2)	Report	Try: Lee-Lo, 52'c Donnell, 63' Braley, 69'c Con: Sheedy (2)	Attendance: 3,648

Round 12

1 March 2025	(1 BP) Leinster	42–24	Cardiff (1BP)	Aviva Stadium, Dublin
15:00	Try: McKee 14' c Boyle 40' c Deegan 42' c McGrath 50' c Tector 53' c Russell 75' c Con: R. Byrne (6/6) 15', 41', 42', 51', 54', 77'	Report	Try: Millard 16' m Young 29' c Millard 57' m Bevan 69' c Con: Sheedy (1/3) 30' de Beer (1/1) 70'	Attendance: 17,951 Referee: Andrea Piardi

Round 13

21 March 2025	Cardiff	20 – 17	Lions (1 BP)	Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff
19:35	Try: Donnell, 20'c Millard, 63'c Con: Sheedy (2) Pen: Sheedy, 31', 50'	Report	Try: Ntlabakanye, 11'c Horn, 57'c Con: Lombard (2) Pen: Lombard, 44'	Attendance: 6,235[12] Referee: Federico Vedovelli

Round 14

29 March 2025	Benetton	20 - 19	Cardiff (1 BP)	Stadio Monigo, Treviso
20:35	Try: Albornoz, 20' Con: Albornoz, 21' Pen: Albornoz, 9', 77'	Report:ESPN	Try: Botham, 6' Bevan, 16' Lloyd, 68' Con: Sheedy, 7', 17'	Attendance: 4,715

Administration and sale

In the fallow week following elimination from the 2024–25 EPCR Challenge Cup, Cardiff Rugby were placed in administration for 24 hours following the failure of private funding. The club were bought out of administration the following day by the Welsh Rugby Union, who took over ownership of the professional club. The club and its staff remained in place.

Round 15

19 April 2025	Ospreys	19 - 36	Cardiff (1BP)	Principality Stadium, Cardiff
15:00	Try: Williams, 11' Spencer, 60' Hardy, 76' Con: Edwards, 11', 77'		Try: Mann, 15', 35' Hamer-Webb, 20', 29', 80' penalty try, 79' Con: Sheedy, 16' Thomas, 81'	Attendance: 28,328 Referee: Ben Connor

Round 16

25 April 2025	(1 BP) Cardiff	26 - 21	Munster (1 BP)	Cardiff Arms Park
19:35	Try: Hamer-Webb, 26' Millard, 28' penalty try, 54' Mulder, 63' Con: Sheedy, 28', 64'	Report, 2	Try: Nash, 12' Haley, 37' Farrell, 50' Con: Crowley, 13', 38', 51'	Attendance: 11,253 Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi

Round 17

10 May 2025	(1 BP) Bulls	45–21	Cardiff	Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria
16:45	Try: Vorster, 7' Louw, 16' Moodie, 21' Hanekom, 38' de Klerk, 42', 52' Con: Goosen, 8' Johannes, 17', 22', 39', 43', 53' Pen: Goosen, 3'		Try: Mann, 47' T Williams, 72' Hamer-Webb, 76' Con: B Thomas, 48', 73', 77'

Round 18

16 May 2025	(1 BP) Stormers	34–24	Cardiff (1 BP)	Cape Town Stadium
19:00	Try: Zas, 10', 33' Hartzenberg, 25', 47' Evans, 72' Con: Willemse, 25', 34' Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 73' Pen: Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 80' Cards: Willemse, 59'	Report	Try: Southworth, 14' Hamer-Webb, 37' Millard, 57' Hughes, 77' Con: Sheedy, 15', 78' Cards: Southworth, 29'	Attendance: 19,256

Cardiff are eliminated from the Championship.

URC Welsh Shield

Cardiff win their first URC Welsh Shield.

2024–25 United Rugby Championship Regional Shield Pools view · watch · edit · discuss
Welsh Shield
	Team	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	TBP	LBP	Pts	Pos overall
1	Cardiff (S)	6	4	1	1	147	117	+30	23	14	4	1	23	9
2	Scarlets	6	4	0	2	163	126	+37	20	18	3	1	20	7
3	Ospreys	6	2	1	3	155	156	–1	21	20	1	1	12	12
4	Dragons	6	1	0	5	130	196	–66	15	27	0	1	5	16
If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:[13] number of matches won the difference between points for and points against the number of tries scored the most points scored the difference between tries for and tries against the fewest red cards received the fewest yellow cards received
Green background indicates teams currently leading the regional shield. Upon the conclusion of the regular season, these teams win their respective regional shields. (S) : URC Shield champion

European Challenge Cup

EPCR Challenge Cup Pool 1

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts	Qualification
1	Connacht (1)	4	4	0	0	154	73	+81	25	10	4	0	20	Home round of 16
2	Lyon (5)	4	3	0	1	150	118	+32	21	19	2	0	14
3	Perpignan (8)	4	2	1	1	100	92	+8	12	14	1	0	11
4	Cardiff (16)	4	1	0	3	91	98	−7	13	13	2	1	7	Away round of 16
5	Cheetahs	4	1	1	2	73	132	−59	10	19	0	0	6
6	Zebre Parma	4	0	0	4	70	125	−55	10	17	0	2	2

Source: EPCR^[14]
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers for teams tied on points: 1) Number of matches won; 2) Difference between points for and against; 3) Total number of points for; 4) Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams; 5) Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled.

Pool matches

Round 1

7 December 2024 16:15

(1 BP) Lyon	37–26	Cardiff (1 BP)
Try: Dumortier (2) 6' m, 37' m Parisien 24' c Charcosset 47' c González 62' c Con: Meliande (3/4) 25', 48', 63' Pen: Meliande (1/1) 69' González (1/1) 74'	Report	Try: Adams 3' c Southworth 15' c Bevan 53' c Hamer-Webb 61' m Con: Sheedy (3/4) 4', 16', 54'

Stade de Gerland, Lyon Attendance: 14,073 Referee: Hollie Davidson (Scotland)

Round 2

14 December 2024 20:00

(1 BP) Cardiff	26–10	Cheetahs
Try: Adams (2) 17' m, 56' c Bowen 46' c Penalty try 67' Con: Sheedy (2/3) 47', 57'	Report	Try: de Haas 31' c Con: Wentzel (1/1) 33' Pen: Wentzel (1/1) 36'

Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff Attendance: 5,410 Referee: Eoghan Cross (Ireland)

Round 3

11 January 2025 14:00

Perpignan	23–20	Cardiff (1 BP)
Try: Allan 39' c Veredamu 49' m Velarte 61' m Con: Allan (1/2) 40+1' Pen: Allan (2/2) 3', 48'	Report	Try: Lee-Lo 42' c Mulder 69' c Con: de Beer (2/2) 43', 69' Pen: de Beer (2/2) 35', 53'

Stade Aimé Giral, Perpignan Attendance: 8,016 Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)

Round 4

17 January 2025 20:00

Cardiff	19–28	Connacht (1 BP)
Try: Lloyd 17' c Young (2) 42' c, 58' m Con: Ben Thomas (2/3) 18', 43'	Report	Try: J. Murphy 13' c Joyce 36' c Ralston 53' c Devine 65' c Con: Ioane (3/3) 13', 37', 54' Hanranhan (1/1) 66'

Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff Attendance: 6,321 Referee: Morné Ferreira (South Africa)

Knockout stage

	Round of 16					Quarter-finals					Semi-finals					Final
	3	Edinburgh	24
	14	Lions	12
						3	Edinburgh	34
						11	Bulls	28
	6	Bayonne	22
	11	Bulls	32
											3	Edinburgh	24
											10	Bath Rugby	39
	7	Pau	24
	10	Bath Rugby	49
						10	Bath Rugby	61
						15	Gloucester	26
	2	Montpellier	17
	15	Gloucester	24
																10	Bath Rugby	37
																5	Lyon	12
	4	Ospreys	36
	13	Scarlets	14
						4	Ospreys	18
						5	Lyon	20
	5	Lyon	34
	12	Sharks	21
											5	Lyon	29
											9	Racing 92	15
	1	Connacht	35
	16	Cardiff	20
						1	Connacht	40
						9	Racing 92	43
	8	Perpignan	18
	9	Racing 92	24

Round of 16

Cardiff qualified as the 16th and final seed from the pool stages and will meet top seed Connacht Rugby in the round of 16.

5 April 2025 20:00

Connacht (1)	35–20	(16) Cardiff
Try: Divine 2' c Jansen 40+4' c Treacy 44' c Bolton 66' c Boyle 76' c Con: Hanrahan (3/3) 4', 45', 42' Ioane (2/2) 66', 77'	Report	Try: Lee-Lo 37' m Thomas 53' c Adams 60' m Con: Thomas Pen: Sheedy (1/2) 12'

The Sportsground, Galway Attendance: 4,217 Referee: Luc Ramos (France)