Teddy Williams is relishing the responsibility of captaining Cardiff as they prepare for another pivotal United Rugby Championship (URC) encounter, this time against Benetton in Treviso on Saturday.
Williams played a key role in Cardiff’s hard-fought 20-17 victory over the Lions last weekend, a win that propelled them to fifth place in the URC standings.
Now, with just three points separating them from Benetton, the second row knows the significance of this latest "six-pointer" in the race for the play-offs.
“The table is so close. Most of the teams are pretty close,” said Williams, who featured in four of Wales’ Six Nations matches and scored a try against Scotland.
“It was a massive win for us over the Lions last weekend. They are obviously a team very close to us in the table.
“It was one where we go up and they stay, so it was a bit of a six-pointer, as they say in football.
“We put pressure on ourselves to deliver, and we did it with that win. Hopefully, we can use that to kick-start our last block of games.
“It’s a good position to be in where pretty much every match is really important. It’s nice to be playing games that are meaningful results-wise.”
Williams leads a Cardiff side showing six changes from last weekend’s triumph.
Ben Donnell moves into the second row alongside him, while James Botham returns to the back row alongside Evan Lloyd and Dan Thomas.
Ellis Bevan comes in at scrum-half, Harri Millard replaces Rey Lee-Lo in midfield, and rugby league convert Regan Grace makes his first URC start on the wing.
Cardiff head coach Matt Sherratt knows his team faces a stern test in Treviso, particularly against a Benetton side buoyed by a gritty 21-18 victory over Edinburgh.
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“Benetton will pose a big challenge. They have a squad full of quality, pose plenty of threats, and will be looking to build on a good win over Edinburgh,” said Sherratt.
“The league is incredibly tight this season, and you can shoot up or down the table in a couple of weeks, so it is important that we continue to pick up points whenever possible.
“We have put ourselves in a good position, but the challenge is to stay there with some difficult fixtures coming up.”
Benetton head coach Marco Bortolami has also made minimal changes to his side, with Italy lock Niccolò Cannone named on the bench following his Six Nations duties.
However, the Italians will be without flanker Alessandro Izekor due to injury and centre Tommaso Menoncello, who has been given a precautionary rest.
“Our only focus is on bringing home the result against Cardiff,” said Bortolami.
“The choices were made to field the best possible line-up, providing continuity compared to last week with few changes among the 23.”
With both sides in playoff contention and the league standings as tight as ever, Williams is embracing the challenge ahead in Italy.
“It’s similar again this week. Benetton are very close to us in the table. It’s a good challenge going out there. It’s a nice place to play, to be fair, so we are looking forward to it.”
