Cardiff Rugby secured a valuable bonus-point victory at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, powered by a remarkable first-half hat-trick from hooker Daf Hughes and a final-play score from Taine Basham. After the match, coach Corniel van Zyl reflected on his side’s resilience throughout the contest.

“If you look at the whole game, we will definitely take it. First half, we probably left a few points out there. We were clinical, but then just lost the ball once or twice close to the try line… Zebre are a tough team to beat.”

While Hughes’ trio of tries, each finished from dominant driving line-outs, provided Cardiff with a crucial cushion in the first half, the second half brought fresh challenges. Zebre started to gain more possession and clawed their way back through close-range pressure. First with a disallowed effort and later with a legitimate try from Marco Zanon-setting up a tense finish in Parma.

Van Zyl pointed to that shift in momentum, coupled with discipline issues, as a key reason why Cardiff were forced to “dig deep.”

“Second half, we didn’t have a lot of possession and field position. It made it tough to keep them out… it was a bit of a mix-match with Bash being yellow-carded, but we had to dig deep, and I think the boys did it.”

Despite missed chances, Cardiff delivered the final blow. With the clock in the red, Taine Basham powered over to seal the bonus-point win. Securing every available point mattered, which van Zyl emphasised.

“Obviously, you always try and collect as many points as you can from a game, so you can’t complain about it. Yeah, it could be the difference.”

With EPCR Challenge Cup fixtures next and heavyweight derby matches looming, van Zyl knows Cardiff’s ability to grind out tight matches will be vital in shaping the remainder of their season.

“It will be a tough one to get over the line, but you take it for now and then go into the derbies after Europe. Those will be big games for where we’re going to end up in the season, definitely.”

Cardiff travel to face Stade Francais in the opening round of the European Challenge Cup next before hosting three back-to-back games at the Arms Park, including two Welsh derbies.

Tickets for all three games are available now.