Today's rugby news as Cardiff make it 'too easy' and Wales star had to be selfish and leave

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These are your rugby headlines on Saturday, October 5.

Cardiff gave away too many 'easy' tries

Cardiff head coach Matt Sherratt praised his side's attacking capability but insists they gave away too many "easy" tries.

The Welsh club fell to a 52-36 defeat against Glasgow - their first of the season - in a 13-try thriller at the Arms Park. Cardiff scored some high quality tries but fell off too many first up tackles.

"The message at half-time when I think we were 21 points down, you see watching all the rugby in every competition if you score once it's a 14-point game," said Sherratt. "The momentum and the emotional energy of the game can swing quite quickly.

"We talked about seeing if we could score and then almost are Glasgow then thinking of holding on. I think we got back to a seven point game but we went down to 14 on 50 minutes.

"I think against Glasgow are always going to score tries. You've got to minimise those individual tries that they score.

"We probably gave them two or three that were too easy tonight."

Sherratt insists this defeat won't affect his players' morale and is looking forward to next weekend's derby against the Scarlets.

"Last season we didn't get too bogged down with the emotions of games," he said.

"If we look at it we got 11 points from our first three games. It's going to be a slow build here.

"We've got Scarlets at home next Saturday which is another chance to play in front of our home crowd and try to play how Cardiff play and keep building as the season goes.

Wales star had to leave

Wales star Dillon Lewis has opened up on why he decided to leave Welsh rugby and join Harlequins last summer.

The prop left Cardiff alongside Jarrod Evans to join the Premiership side after last year's World Cup and the pair have now been joined at The Stoop by Welsh front row Wyn Jones, as well as Leigh Halfpenny. Lewis and Jones are now under the guidance of Wales legend Adam Jones, with all three discussing their move to Quins in an interview with TNT Sports.

"It's no secret that things are tough in Wales at the moment," said Lewis as he was asked why he left Wales. "The past couple of years have been tough whether it's financially or results. I wanted to come and improve still as a rugby player and I felt like I needed to leave Wales and try something new to do that, so it was more from a selfish point of view I left Wales."

Discussing the differences between the Premiership and the URC, he added: "Every team in the league prides themselves on their set piece, so every week is a challenge.

"Whereas, in the URC, you've got teams where you don't really know what sort of team they are going to put out and it's not as competitive week to week, whereas in the Premiership I find it far more competitive."

Cunningham: We can't dwell on this

Wales Women boss Ioan Cunningham said his side's WXV2 defeat to Italy was "very disappointing" but is already turning attention to their final clash against Japan next week.

Cunningham's team lacked composure at crucial times and squandered several chances as they fell on the wrong side of a narrow 8-5 scoreline in Cape Town.

A dramatic end to the game saw them turn down a penalty in front of the posts to push for a winning try, but Keira Bevan's 85th minute effort was held up, while they also lost fly-half Lleucu George to a nasty-looking knee injury in the closing moments.

The defeat sees a poor 2024 continue for Cunningham and his side, with pressure now building on the coach to deliver a win as they get ready to face Japan. However, he says they cannot afford to dwell on the defeat, which follows an opening WXV2 loss to Australia.

"It's very disappointing but our players fought hard right to the end and we had a chance to steal it at the end," the coach said at the full-time whistle. "But we can't dwell on it because we have a short turnaround to Japan next week so we have to focus on that. We have to rest up to be fresh physically but also have clarity in our game plan.

"It's all about accuracy," he added. "We are creating so many opportunities and had a lot of territory and possession, especially in the first half, but we have to be more clinical."

English champions scrape through in thriller

By PA Sport Staff

Northampton Saints director of rugby Phil Dowson saw his side come through a typically tense encounter against Harlequins as they eventually ran out 33-29 winners.

In a match where nine tries were scored, Quins placed the defending Gallagher Premiership champions’ year-long unbeaten record at home in jeopardy as they led 22-14 at the break at Franklin’s Gardens.

However, a penalty try – and subsequent yellow card for Harlequins winger Nick David – kickstarted a comeback that made it 17 home wins in a row for the hosts.

Dowson said: “We were very poor in the first half, the second half was much more like us.

“Obviously, never perfect, but I was really happy with our response that we had.

“Whenever we play Quins, because they’re such a good side and they’re such a bold attacking side and score so many points, we always say we don’t want it to become a shoot-out.

“I think that was far too exciting for our liking – we’d rather just give ourselves some breathing room and once again, it’s a one-score game and everyone’s nervous.

“There’s a lot of experience in (the changing room), so they know fundamentally what’s up, so it’s basically making sure those messages are as simple as possible and as clear as possible.

“The key message was we need to get going forward and get physical to win collisions more because we didn’t win many in the first half.”

Two Marcus Smith tries and one from Titi Lamositele placed Harlequins in a great position at half-time, with Emmanuel Iyogun and Ollie Sleightholme replying for Northampton.

Saints moved back within one point through a penalty try before scores by Sam Graham and Sleightholme put them in front, with Will Porter’s effort for Quins bringing about a tense finish.

Harlequins head coach Danny Wilson said: “I think (the lead) should have been more than eight points at half-time.

“I think we worked really hard against a decent defence, a good side, to score our points and then handed them opportunities straight off the very next kick-off where we didn’t deal with the kick-off or deal with the exit.

“We gave Northampton field position and they obviously took their opportunities.

“We went in and said we’re in a good place here in terms of when we’ve got the ball in their half, I felt we were going really well, but we’ve got to stop handing them some simple opportunities

“We tried to fix that but then the first 20 minutes (of the second half) and the yellow card killed us because we’re then with 14 men against a very good attack and it was just wave after wave.

“The biggest effect was the drain on our batteries.”