James Botham has delivered a starkly honest assessment of Cardiff’s performance in losing to the Scarlets and admitted it will be personal in Saturday’s re-match.
Dai Young’s team went down to a 35-20 defeat in last weekend’s Welsh derby in Llanelli to leave them stuck in 14th place in the United Rugby Championship. You can read the match report here.
Now the two teams will meet again at the Arms Park in a fixture that was originally due to be played on Boxing Day, but has been rearranged following a Covid cancellation. A bumper crowd is expected for the showdown and flanker Botham acknowledges Cardiff need to respond after a display that earned them a real dressing down from director of rugby Young.
READ MORE: Dai Young's brutal Cardiff verdict as his side come second best 'in every area'
“We knew we were going to get a bit of a b******ing from the way we performed. We all knew it was coming,” the Welsh international told the ScrumV podcast.
“In terms of our mental state, we just underestimated them. They did a few picks you wouldn’t expect them to pick in their side. We just weren’t as up for it as we should have been. We kind of thought it could have been a walk in the park, but it wasn’t.
“The first 20 we came out and wanted it and then, from there on, in my eyes, they just wanted it a bit more. The scrum really did let us down. They were just getting the go-forward and then they pinned us down before half-time. They got a try and there was a yellow card, which really did change the game and put us on the back foot. Then we had another yellow card. It was just discipline again. It’s always a leading factor with us. If we can stay on top of that we usually come out on top.
“It’s one of those results there’s a lot to learn from. That’s the beauty of having them again now this week. We can kind of put that to bed and show what we can do. It’s great because we can see if the boys do learn from the mistakes. In my eyes, it does make it more of a personal thing with the game coming up this weekend. The boys can show exactly what it means to them because that’s what we need.”
Cardiff will be looking to replicate the kind of form that has brought them notable Arms Park victories over Leinster and Glasgow this season.
“When we have got the crowd at home at the moment, you can see it in the boys’ eyes,” said Botham. “We came back from being 13 points down against Glasgow. We have got to have the oomph to take us forward and then just see where it takes us. We have got to take every game now as a knock-out game regardless of who it is, where it is.”
It’s been a tough, disrupted campaign for Cardiff, who have won just five of the 14 competitive matches they have played.
“It’s hard to say exactly what the issue is. But this season there have been a lot of learning curves for coaches, players and staff. It’s not been a proper season for anyone,” said the nine-cap Botham.
“It’s been a bit of a mess everywhere, with the season being split up so much. We didn’t have crowds at the beginning, then we did, then we didn’t. We win a couple of games then we are stuck in South Africa, then Covid stops us. Everything has just been a little bit all over the shop. It’s just a case of getting through the season and then starting next season and going from there.”
Cardiff have a major injury doubt over Wales and Lions wing Josh Adams, who went off with a knee ligament problem last weekend, while No 8 James Ratti was another to leave the field early. For the Scarlets, there's a big question mark over centre Scott Williams who departed after injuring his shoulder.
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