Corniel Van Zyl admitted Cardiff Rugby were second best in too many areas as the Blue & Blacks were outmuscled in a fiery New Year’s Day derby, despite salvaging a crucial bonus point in defeat to the Ospreys at a sold-out Dunraven Brewery Field.

Cardiff went into the contest knowing a victory could lift them to the summit of the BKT United Rugby Championship following their win over the Dragons to close out 2025. However, they struggled to gain a foothold against an Ospreys side who dominated territory, possession and the collisions, running in five tries to secure a bonus-point victory.

“Basically we got beaten in every aspect of the game,” said Van Zyl. “Especially early on we struggled with field position and then obviously the yellow card meant we lived under pressure.

“We handled a few things decently at first, like the physicality, but ultimately it just took too much out of us.”

Despite returning to a full complement for the second half, Van Zyl felt the hosts’ ability to immediately reapply pressure proved decisive.

“Second half, I felt like once we were back to 15 we could go again,” he added. “But they applied pressure straight away, we made a few mistakes and it was pressure on pressure. They punished us with a few tries.”

Tries from Josh Adams, his fourth in three games, and Taulupe Faletau brought Cardiff some hope late on, before Javan Sebastian finished strongly in the final moments to claim an extra point.

“To be fair, hats off to the boys for the fight and spirit of going for it,” said Van Zyl. “It’s nice to see, but ultimately we lost the game, so it’s tough to take.”

With attention now turning back to Europe, Van Zyl stressed the importance of responding quickly as Cardiff prepare to return to action in the European Challenge Cup against Racing 92.

“It’s a short turnaround and then it’s back to Europe,” he said. “We probably didn’t get on top in two or three key areas today, which is frustrating, because we know we can be competitive when we do.”

Cardiff will now regroup ahead of their European challenge, determined to build on the resilience shown late on and deliver a more complete performance next time out.