Cardiff secure bonus-point win over Zebre at the Arms Park
Cardiff secured a bonus-point win over Zebre at the Arms Park in the United Rugby Championship on 2 October 2026, scoring six tries in the home victory. The result extended Cardiff’s positive start to the URC after last weekend’s win against Scarlets.
Taine Basham is in his second season with Cardiff after moving from Dragons. Tries: T Williams, Sebastian, Basham, Mann, Bowen 2 Cons: Sheedy 4, Evans Tries: Minervino, Ferrari, Bertaccini, Da Re Cons: Da Re 2 Pens: Allen
Zebre dominated the opening exchanges as Italy international Tommaso Allan missed an early penalty before converting the first three points. Cardiff rallied with lock Teddy Williams finishing a flowing move after a clever pass from Alex Mann, marking Williams’s first competitive home game for the club since suffering a serious foot injury in October 2025 at the Arms Park.
Cardiff extended their lead when hooker Javan Sebastian was released from a tap-penalty move by Dafydd Hughes, but Zebre responded through hooker Francisco Minervino. Taine Basham then crashed over from an attacking scrum and Alex Mann touched down the bonus-point try in the 36th minute after build-up play that featured a pass from Ben Thomas and a dummy from Hughes, leaving the hosts 26-8 at half-time.
The second half began with Callum Sheedy’s grubber finding Tom Bowen, who crossed to open his account, and Bowen later finished a second try after a pass from scrum-half Johan Mulder. Cardiff made changes with hooker Evan Lloyd coming on to cover the back row and 18-year-old Tom Howe making his senior Cardiff debut.
Cardiff held a 40-8 lead halfway through the second half but allowed Zebre back into the game as the visitors scored three times in the final 21 minutes through replacements Giacomo Ferrari and Giacomo Da Re and centre Giulio Bertaccini. Da Re’s try followed a break from full-back Giovanni Montemauri and secured a bonus-point score for Zebre.
Cardiff made four personnel changes from the Scarlets win, bringing in hooker Dafydd Hughes and James Botham for captain Liam Belcher and flanker Dan Thomas, with Josh McNally leading the side in Belcher’s absence. Injured wing Mason Grady and full-back Cameron Winnett were ruled out; Harri Millard and Bowen started on the wings and Jacob Beetham took the full-back position.
The match was attended by 7,231 spectators at the Arms Park, a similar crowd to Cardiff’s opening Welsh derby, and the assistant referees were Ben Connor (WRU) and Lucas Yendle (WRU). Cardiff now travel to face defending champions Leinster in Dublin next Saturday.