Cardiff Players' Player of the Year Named
Flanker Dan Thomas has been recognized as the Cardiff players' player of the year for the 2025-26 season.
Cardiff Acknowledges Challenges of South Africa Trip
Cardiff have stated that there will be no excuses when they travel to South Africa next weekend to face the Stormers in the United Rugby Championship (URC) play-off quarter-final.
The team faces a costly and logistically demanding trip to Cape Town for the match scheduled on Saturday, 30 May.
After reviewing travel costs and availability for this weekend, Cardiff decided to fly on Tuesday, arriving in South Africa several days prior to the match.
Cardiff lock Josh McNally and flanker Dan Thomas have emphasized that neither the 12,000-mile round trip nor the prospect of sitting in economy class will distract the coaches and players from their goal of reaching the semi-finals.
"We've all travelled enough now to know what's happening and what's coming," Thomas told the Scrum V podcast.
"There is no excuse when it comes to travel or the body being sore or anything like that.
"As long as your mentality is up there, your body will catch up and we need to turn up next Saturday with the right mentality.
"There are no excuses, this is a great opportunity. How many boys have played in quarter-finals before? If you're not up for it mentally, you shouldn't be on the pitch."
How Cardiff Advanced to URC Play-Offs
Cardiff secured their quarter-final spot with a 22-16 victory against the Stormers, setting up a rematch in South Africa.
The upcoming game will take place in Cape Town, which eliminates altitude concerns. Cardiff will conduct most of their training in Wales before finishing preparations in South Africa.
"The beauty of it in Cape Town, it's at sea level and it's winter now," said McNally.
"So there's nothing too major to prepare for. We will do most of our training up here, then go down for a smash and grab and see where we are."
Stormers are expected to be strong favourites as they seek revenge.
"That is set up perfectly for us," McNally added.
"You see the best of us when we're underdogs. No one gave us a chance last Friday and we come out with a bit between our teeth.
"You can say there's a few challenges next week but we go down there and do something.
"We know exactly how we want to play. We're genuinely excited to be still playing rugby at this time of year when others are off.
"It gives boys a new experience of playing play-offs and it's an exciting time."
URC Logistical and Financial Play-Off Issues
Cardiff will incur some expenses for the trip, though URC organisers are understood to provide approximately £125,000, which will cover most of the flight costs.
Cardiff is not alone in facing such challenges; Munster will also travel to South Africa to play the Bulls in Pretoria.
The Johannesburg-based Lions have already been away from South Africa for several weeks after playing their final two regular league matches in Europe. They have chosen to remain in the Republic of Ireland for an additional couple of weeks and will face Leinster in Dublin.
The shortest journey will be undertaken by Connacht, who will fly from Galway to Glasgow to face the Scottish top seeds on Friday, 29 May.
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