By James Skeldon
Rhys Priestland’s form has been given the thumbs up by Dai Young, just two weeks before Wales face the All Blacks.
Cardiff No.10 Priestland kicked 13 points and steered his side to a hard-earned 23-17 victory over the Sharks which earned the approval of his coach.
It meant the 34-year-old signed off a successful few days, having been recalled for Wales duty earlier in the week.
His points haul earned him the man of the match award but he also showed his mental toughness after nailing a crucial kick to extend Cardiff’s lead in the latter stages of the match – a kick that was made all the more stressful after he had just missed a kickable penalty from similar range.
“He’s been there and done it, explained Cardiff head coach Young.
“The great kickers brush that off and I don’t think anyone had any doubts that he was going to nail that kick.
“He’s played really well for us and his kicking game puts us in some good areas. He takes it to the line really well and puts people into space.
“We’re pleased to have him on board.”
Great night at CAP last night. Great atmosphere and a big @Cardiff_Rugby performance against a tough Sharks side. #cardiffrugby pic.twitter.com/wo6k3EJtoN
— Chris Gibbins 🏴 (@CJGib1) October 17, 2021
Cardiff opened up a healthy lead in the first quarter through a Matthew Morgan try and a Rhys Priestland penalty.
They then extended their lead to 17-0 after a well-executed training park move that resulted in Willis Halaholo dotting down.
The momentum of the game then swung towards the Sharks as they battled back into the game to get within a score of Cardiff.
After Priestland’s high class kicking from the tee, the home side managed to hold on to secure the win.
Young added: “We played some real good stuff in the first half. I think we learned a lot from last week.
“In the second half I thought we were really brave. We struggled to get outside our 22 but I think everyone could see what it meant to the players to get a victory here.
“Five driving lineouts five metres from your line is always going to be difficult to stop against a team of that size.
“I’ve got to tap the boys on the back there.”
Rugby Paper reporting that Josh Navidi will be out for 6 months. Really rubbish news for Wales and obviously Cardiff as well. Navidi has had shit luck with injuries these past three years. That guy deserves a break. pic.twitter.com/TEFho5U81k
— Jamie Phillips (@JNPhillips4) October 17, 2021
It was a welcome win for Young and his Cardiff side after two consecutive defeats in previous games against the Bulls and the Ospreys.
Young and Cardiff will be pleased to have generated some momentum as they look ahead to their next match against Dragons.
Whilst Young is confident in his team’s ability to win next week, he is also wary of the threat that the Dragons pose.
“I think the Dragons have been excellent this season,” he added.
“They were the most improved side last season and I think they’ve carried on.
“We’re not expecting the quality to drop at all.”
Willis Halaholo was one of Cardiff’s standout players with a first half try and an outstanding jackal turnover when his team were under serious pressure.
The Welsh international was pleased to get on the end of a training park move.
“We found a way to win, that was the important thing – we learnt lessons from last week…I thought we were brave and deserved the win.”
Dai Young, cyfarwyddwr rygbi @Cardiff_Rugby
🏉Canlyniad/Result
Caerdydd 23-17 Sharks📺@S4C
📍 Parc yr Arfau🏆 @URCOfficial pic.twitter.com/JVucZe6Xwn
— Clwb Rygbi (@yclwbrygbi) October 16, 2021
“Kirby (Myhill) showed a bit of flair with the no-pass and it just opened up for me,” said Halaholo.
I’m just happy to pull off what we’ve been working on in training.”
The centre credited the 8,000 in attendance as a major factor in securing the win.
“The atmosphere and the crowd is what gets us through, especially in that second half. We probably couldn’t have done it without the crowd supporting us and cheering us on.”
Halaholo is keen to perform well for Cardiff ahead of the autumn campaign with Wales.
“We can take this confidence going into camp and have a good buzz around there. Hopefully the boys can do the job in next week’s game and we can carry on where we left off.”
