There will be one Welsh club in the play-offs as the Scarlets and Cardiff learned their fate on Friday night
The Scarlets reached the United Rugby Championship play-offs ahead of their final match of the season, after results went their way on Friday night – although those same results meant that Cardiff’s hopes of joining them were extinguished.
Dwayne Peel’s side take on the Sharks on Saturday in Durban with the benefit of knowing that their place in the URC play-offs is secure after enough of the clubs below them were unable to overtake them. With results going their way, the Scarlets can look forward to their first play-off appearance since 2018 – when they reached the final.
With it, the Scarlets also secured their place in next season’s Champions Cup.
They had started the final weekend of the season knowing they had a 98 per cent chance of qualifying for the play-offs after a strong finish to the season.
Last week’s stunning win away to the Lions had put them in a strong position.
That came off the back of wins over Ospreys, Dragons and Leinster – with Peel’s side hitting form at the right time.
And, with Cardiff and Benetton failing to pick up enough points to move above them in defeats to the Stormers and Munster respectively on Friday night, the Scarlets now know they are in the play-offs regardless of what happens against the Sharks.
Munster have moved above the Scarlets following their win over Benetton, as have Edinburgh after their emphatic victory over Ulster. But the Scarlets could yet leapfrog the pair depending on their result against the Sharks.
As for Cardiff, they were left to rue narrowly missing out on a top eight finish. Matt Sherratt’s side picked up one bonus point in Cape Town during their 34-24 defeat to the Stormers.
But that always meant that their hopes of reaching the play-offs for the first time were unlikely – with Edinburgh’s win hours later ensuring the Arms Park side would miss out.
Cardiff had gone into their final match knowing that victory would secure a place in the play-offs.
However, despite a valiant effort, it wasn’t to be. Join WalesOnline Rugby’s WhatsApp Channel here to get the breaking news sent straight to your phone for free
Dafydd Hughes’ late score brought up the four-try bonus point and put them within range of a losing bonus point, but the latter was snatched away by a last-gasp penalty from the Stormers.
Speaking about missing out on the play-offs, Cardiff coach Matt Sherratt said: “We’ve shown with this team over the last two seasons that we don’t lack effort.
“Obviously I’m disappointed. It’s a game we could have got more out of. We missed out on a point at the end.
“But it’s important to reflect on the season as a whole. It’s easy to look at one game and the odd moment.
“Ultimately we’ve played 18 games and just come up short. But I think expectations at the start of the season have been exceeded. Icing on the cake would have been getting to the play-offs, there’s no doubt about that.
“But still to double our wins, play some of the rugby we’ve played, the amount of tries and tries bonuses, we’ve certainly developed on last season.
“It’s important to take a breath. The biggest thing for me is it’s important for the club to keep pushing forward.”
