Dramatic conclusions and near misses were the underlying theme for the four Welsh sides in the last round of the United Rugby Championship (URC).Following the news that Cardiff, Scarlets, Dragons and Ospreys will still exist until at least the summer of 2028, the four sides returned to the pitch with mixed results. Just two days after it emerged Cardiff and Ospreys will not have the same owners, the two sides locked horns at the Arms Park in which the play-off chasing hosts held off a late fightback by the visitors.Dragons warmed up for a European semi-final by defeating Zebre in Parma with a last-gasp try, but Scarlets were again on the wrong end of a late defeat at home, this time by Bulls.BBC Sport Wales looks at the talking points from round 16 of the URC.Cardiff takeover deal with Ospreys owners collapsesTierney outlines latest plan for Welsh rugbyCardiff move closer to play off dreamCardiff play their home games at the Arms Park [Huw Evans Agency]Cardiff have moved one step closer to finishing in the top eight and reaching the URC play-offs courtesy of the 24-21 win against Ospreys.It was a 10th league victory in 16 games for the Blue and Blacks, who have enjoyed back-to-back derby successes against Scarlets and Ospreys.This is despite a notable injury list which includes Wales duo Josh Adams and James Botham, while Alex Mann was a late withdrawal on Friday.Head coach Corniel van Zyl insists his side still have plenty of work to do as they lie sixth going into the final two games of the season.With only nine sides now able to qualify, Cardiff are six points clear of ninth-placed Connacht but have two difficult fixtures to come, at Glasgow and home against the Stormers."Hopefully we will get a few players back now," said Van Zyl.
"The next game is the most important.“Glasgow are a quality team, but we will go there and give it a good shot.”Reflecting on last season when Cardiff just missed out on the play-offs, V-*an Zyl said: "It was almost like we were chasing from behind and trying to get in there."This season we made it a point to focus more on week to week, trying to get points where we can."With Cardiff missing star men, they were indebted to the likes of player-of-the-match Dan Thomas, Rory Thornton and Alun Lawrence against Ospreys.“They've been around the block and it's an honour to have those experienced players,” said van Zyl."Dan is always good and Rory did a great job with set-pieces, especially line-outs, where we struggled last week. "Alun is a machine.
He keeps on going and is the glue in our team. He's consistently putting out very good performances, which is remarkable.“Kasende's costly red cardDaniel Kasende joined Ospreys from South African side Cheetahs in October 2024 [Huw Evans Agency]Both sides were ill-disciplined at the Arms Park with four yellow cards between them.Fly-half Dan Edwards and centre Owen Watkin were the guilty Ospreys men, while Cardiff captain Liam Belcher and lock Josh McNally were also sent to the sin-bin.The defining transgression was the 20-minute red card for Ospreys wing Daniel Kasende for throwing his forearm into the face of Cardiff fly-half Callum Sheedy.Kasende's first-half offence was rare because it occurred when he was in possession of the ball.Ospreys head coach Mark Jones believes Kasende could have been given the same punishment as Belcher, whose early yellow card which was for a head-on-head collision with number eight Morgan Morris.“They [match officials] thought his [Kasende] offence was worthy of a red for 20 minutes,” said Jones.“I'm not adept with the criteria of these things, but I look at the force of the forearm compared to two heads coming together and one looks like it could do more damage than the other.
“I was surprised perhaps they weren't treated the same, but that's not for me to comment on.”Jones insisted Cardiff deserved the victory, despite Ospreys rallying with late tries.He said: “We had other things we could have controlled better, other than the officials' decisions. We needed to execute our own game better. “I'm more concerned with getting into that than worrying too much about the difference in those incidents.“We could have got something at the end, but it was probably a fair result if I look at the level of performance on both teams.”Ospreys 'positive' as Scarlets set to sign WRU dealOspreys target Welsh shield Cardiff won the Welsh Shield in the 2024-25 URC season [Huw Evans Agency]Cardiff will finish the season as the highest-placed Welsh team in the URC and hope to achieve Champions Cup qualification, but they might not retain the Welsh Shield.This is a sub-competition within the league which acts as a domestic championship to determine local bragging rights between the four Welsh regions.It is separate from the main URC league table and the winner is decided by head-to-head matches, not league positions, during the regular season.Cardiff have gone three points clear of Ospreys, who face Scarlets on Saturday, 9 May i