Josh Adams Eyes Cardiff Upset in Stormers Quarter-Final — Wales National Rugby Union Team
Josh Adams wants Cardiff's first United Rugby Championship play-off fixture to end with the wales national rugby union team wing adding another South African scalp in Cape Town. Cardiff face the Stormers in the quarter-finals on Saturday at 14:30 BST, and a win would put them into unfamiliar territory for the club.
Cape Town and Cardiff
Adams said a quarter-final victory with Cardiff would sit near the top of his career list. "I've been lucky enough to win things with Wales and that is really special," he said. "But speak to players and when they win domestic trophies or achieve really good things with their club it feels different because they are there 80% of the year."
"To achieve a quarter-final victory with Cardiff would be right up there with some really big achievements," he added. Saturday will be his first taste of play-off rugby, and it comes in Cardiff's first URC play-off fixture.
Josh Adams and Wales
Adams brings 70 caps and 24 Wales tries into the tie, leaving him fifth on the men's all-time try chart. He also helped Wales win the 2019 Grand Slam and the 2021 Six Nations title, so he is not short of knockout-stage experience even if this is a new setting for Cardiff.
His recent history against South Africa adds another layer. Wales became the first Welsh side to beat South Africa on home soil in the second Test of their summer series in 2022, when Adams scored in the left corner in the 78th minute and Gareth Anscombe kicked the conversion.
Stormers at home
Cardiff have won only two of 10 URC trips to South Africa, and both of those victories came against Sharks in Durban. They also won in South Africa against Sharks in 2024, which leaves the Stormers match as a chance to break a pattern that has mostly gone against them away from home.
Adams said the scale of the task is clear. "There are a lot of things that need to go your way, and you need a bit of luck on your side," he said. "With South African teams, especially at home, the physicality that they bring along with the emotion of the occasion really sets the tone."
He also pointed to the depth Cardiff will need in Cape Town. "It takes a squad effort from 1 to 23. Having good quality on the bench is really important if you want to win games out here." And on the Stormers themselves, he said: "It's going to take a bigger effort than in Cardiff. We understand Stormers are very, very good at home."
