By David Williams
Cardiff Rugby bowed out of the Investec Champions Cup staying true to the style that has won them plenty of pats on the back this season, yet has failed to earn them a victory.
Their 48-26 defeat to Top14 leaders Racing 92 at La Defense Arena in Paris was full of flair, effort and tries but in the end it was a chance lost to reach either the Round of 16 in the Champions Cup or Challenge Cup.
Outscored by seven tries to four, Cardiff ended bottom of their pool with a -113 points difference having conceded 28 tries in their four fixtures.
Tries from Rhys Carre, the first of the match, Tinus de Beer, his first for the club, and two from the departing Tomos Williams
Tristan Tedder bagged 15 points for the home side, including a try, and the other scores from tries by Kitione Kamikamica, Siya Kolisi, Inia Tabuavou, Christian Wade, Maxime Baudonne and Janick Tarrit.
They allowed Racing 92 to leapfrog Ulster into fourth place in Pool 2 to secure their ticket into the last 16 despite only winning one game.
Post-match reaction ️
‘On the whole, I’m immensely proud of the playing group.’
The thoughts of Head coach Matt Sherratt after our match against Racing 92 in Paris.#AlwaysCardiff pic.twitter.com/BKZOVxbzyc
— Cardiff Rugby (@Cardiff_Rugby) January 20, 2024
“We wanted to show fight and give people a good match to watch, and we did both of those things. I can’t be prouder of the players’ efforts,” said head coach Matt Sherratt.
“They were up against it, they showed a lot of courage and scored four cracking tries. There’s a tinge of disappointment.
“We’ve got to get better at certain things. We’re giving teams too many easy scores and we’ve got to get that out of our game.
“But I’ve got to speak to myself about that because that’s what you get with so many young players. They are learning right at the sharp end against some of the best operators in world rugby.”
Care carried twice in the move that ended with him crashing over for the first try at the posts after only seven minutes.
Le Racing 92 a décroché sa qualification pour les phases finales de la Champions Cup à la faveur d’une victoire bonifiée face à Cardiff. Un match spectaculaire. #rugby #ChampionsCup https://t.co/LJQ57zQrPa
— Le Rugbynistere (@LeRugbynistere) January 21, 2024
It was a great start for Cardiff, and they went into the break trailing 20-12 having picked up a second try through Williams after a great break by Ben Thomas.
Racing never let up in the second half and added four more tries to Cardiff’s two. But it was the visitors who were on the offensive at the death as they simply refused to surrender.
“There is a four week break now where we can take a break and take stock and focus on some of the learnings,” added Sherratt.
“There were still some little bits today where we are giving away easy scores and against the top teams if you switch off for a second they hurt you. It’s only good learning if we reference it when we come back and are a better team when we play Connacht.”
The Scarlets were also left without a victory in the European campaign on Friday night when they bowed out of the Challenge Cup after a 31-19 home defeat to Edinburgh.
On Sunday, the Ospreys are in South Africa to play the Lions, while the Dragons host the Sharks at Rodney Parade.