Cardiff 33 - 20 Lions

● full_time 80 minutes

27 Sep 2025

Stage: Regular Season Round 1

Cardiff Arms Park

Cardiff Rugby secured a dominant 33-20 victory over the Lions at Cardiff Arms Park. Ben Thomas opened the scoring with a try in the eighth minute, quickly followed by a conversion from Callum Sheedy. Although the Lions responded with a penalty from Lubabalo Dobela and a try from Ruan Venter, Cardiff maintained their lead despite Thomas receiving a red card just before half-time. In the second half, Cardiff capitalized on their home advantage with further tries from Alex Mann and two from Evan Lloyd, with Sheedy converting all but one. The Lions struggled to keep pace, despite another try from WJ Steenkamp and solid kicking from Dobela. Cardiff's defense held firm, and the team showed resilience after being reduced to 14 players. This match continued Cardiff's strong form against the Lions, following their previous victory earlier in the year.

Weather

Temperature: 15.3°C (Feels like 11.2°C) Condition: Rain Wind: 21.3 km/h, gusting to 41.9 km/h Humidity: 77% Cloud Cover: 94%

Highlights

Events

0' kickoff
8' try Ben Thomas
9' conversion Callum Sheedy
16' penalty Lubabalo Dobela
17' substitution Liam Belcher
22' try Cameron Winnett
23' conversion Callum Sheedy
26' try Ruan Venter
27' conversion Lubabalo Dobela
29' red_card Ben Thomas
36' penalty Lubabalo Dobela
40' half_time
40' second_half
47' try WJ Steenkamp
48' conversion Lubabalo Dobela
49' substitution Rhys Barratt
49' substitution Javan Sebastian
51' try Alex Mann
51' conversion Callum Sheedy
59' try Evan Lloyd
60' conversion Callum Sheedy
60' substitution Johan Mulder
60' substitution Alex Mann
62' substitution Franco Marais
62' substitution Tapiwa Mafura
63' substitution Asenathi Ntlabakanye
66' substitution Cameron Winnett
68' substitution Taine Basham
70' substitution Ruan Venter
70' substitution Dylan Sjoblom
72' substitution SJ Kotze
75' try Evan Lloyd
80' full_time