Cardiff secured a place in the United Rugby Championship play-offs by beating Stormers on Friday night, with their reward being the chance to play them again this weekend…

Elsewhere, the other three regions brought the curtain down on their seasons with high scoring matches. Dragons played out their fourth draw of the season with Scarlets in a 35-35 humdinger, while Ospreys were beaten by a record score against a powerful Leinster side.

Let’s get into the action and preview next week’s quarter-final!

Cardiff supply a sprinkling of stardust

Cardiff Arms Park on a Friday night, was it ever in doubt?

Well, with a full-strength Stormers side in town, full to the brim of Springboks including perhaps the best player in the world right now in Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Cardiff’s phenomenal home record was never in more danger than for this final regular season match.

The 22-16 bonus point victory was an excellent display, with the back row trio of James Botham, Dan Thomas, and Taine Basham keeping the powerful South African side at bay.

And when the opportunity showed it’s self, the Blue and Blacks seized it with both hands. The backs move for Tom Bowen’s opening try was a testament to the Cardiff coaching, while Beetham’s second half score was excellent.

There was even time for the retiring Leigh Halfpenny to get a three minute cameo off the bench.

Not only will Cardiff take on the Stormers again next week for the play-off quarter-final in Cape Town, the capital region will be the only Welsh club competing in the Champions Cup next season.

For Corniel van Zyl, who started the season as an interim head coach after Matt Sherratt’s late departure, this season has been a vindication of his methods.

“Coaching-wise that will be up there,” said van Zyl.

“It was unbelievable for so many reasons. If you look at performances of so many individuals, it was massive.

“The boys defended well, fought for the jersey and fans responded to that. It was a backs against the wall, a big pressure game we needed to win against a great Stormers team.

“So for the boys to step up, and give that performance, was so pleasing.”

Taine Plumtree shines in pulsating Welsh derby draw

Is there a more polarizing player in Welsh rugby than Taine Plumtree?

The Scarlets back row has had a rollercoaster ride of a season, with seven yellow cards and six tries for club and country leading many to ask why he was included in Steve Tandy’s squad for the summer tests.

And yet, when you watch him against Dragons, you come away thinking that he is perhaps the most talented player Wales have.

Two tries and two assists saw him have a hand in the first four of the five tries scored on Saturday, with his opening score a world class effort worthy of an international class winger.

He picks up the ball from a Joe Hawkins miss-pass, and chips ahead over Dragons wing Rio Dyer, getting the kind bounce, collecting, and swan-diving in the corner with a one-handed finish.

His assist for Jarrod Taylor’s try in the first half was more of a forward-baller move a la Ardie Savea. He charges down Niall Armstrong’s back kick, nicks the ball ahead of the covering Tinus de Beer, and fixes two defenders, only to free his arms for a lovely offload to Taylor, who crashes over.

It was less than a month ago that Scarlets’ interim director of rugby Nigel Davies called the Wales international out for his persistent penalties, claiming that it had ‘hurt’ his team during the season.

Maybe that tough love is working on Plumtree. His form in recent weeks are the perfect audition for Tandy’s blindside role, with Alex Mann the current incumbent.

The Swansea-born flanker may be perfect for the number 20 shirt this summer.

Dragons rue another draw in a season of improvement

By comparing points from the 2024/25 season to this campaign, no side in the URC have seen a bigger improvement than the Dragons.

Alongside Cardiff’s improvement of eight points from last season, Dragons have put a whopping 19 more points on the board this season compared to last.

And yet, they will be bitterly disappointed to finish the league season as the bottom placed Welsh side for another campaign.

A large part of the reason is their four drawn games this season. The initial two against Sharks and Ospreys early in the season at home were the mark of a side that were perhaps a little too desperate to finally get a win.

Their more recent draws against Benetton and Scarlets were littered with missed opportunities.

What is clear though, that even with the departing Aaron Wainwright an obvious miss, Filo Tiatia has managed to turn the club’s fortunes around.

Now the real work begins.

Morgan’s send-off spoilt by record defeat

Ospreys’ final match of the season was supposed to be a fitting send-off for departing heroes Jac Morgan and Dewi Lake, but Leinster’s ruthlessness proved too much for Mark Jones’ side at the end of a difficult season.

On the pitch, the Ospreys are only one point worse off than last season, but the off-field uncertainty and high-profile departures have casted a cloud over the season.

“The scoreboard was ugly and I will try not to focus too much on that,” said head coach Mark Jones.

“It was probably one game too much for us this season and I don’t want it to be the match we remember. With everything that has gone on, I’ve learned an awful lot.

“A fair bit about myself, the coaching and playing group, backroom staff and our supporters. It’s been an enlightening season around how certain people respond to scenarios.

“I’ve learned people within our building are incredible, in terms of their character, work ethic and mindset to keep going through it all.”

With the future of the region still up in the air, Jones is calling for clarity as Ospreys continue to lose more players than they sign year on year.

“I would encourage everybody to finalise things and show a clear vision for players, supporters and stakeholders,” added Jones.

“Once we know what we’re working towards, people can get behind it. The problem has been the ambiguity hanging over everybody.”

“Hopefully we have less disruption next year with the off-field antics and more talk around performance on the pitch.”

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