European Challenge Cup: Cardiff Rugby 41-0 Brive - winless Welsh run in Europe ends

Wales wing Josh Adams scored one of Cardiff's seven tries on his return from injury

Cardiff ended a long barren run for Welsh sides in Europe as they thrashed Brive 41-0 in their opening Challenge Cup match.

Kristian Dacey, with two, and returning Wales wing Josh Adams scored first-half tries.

Lloyd Williams sealed the bonus point after just 48 minutes on his 250th appearance for the club.

Teddy Williams, Mason Grady and Theo Cabango added further scores in a one-sided affair in freezing conditions.

It was the first Welsh victory in European competition since December 2020, though Dragons halted the 20-match losing streak with a draw away to Lions in South Africa a few hours earlier.

Scrum-half Williams was named player of the match as he was given plenty of possession to enjoy against the much-changed French strugglers, who never looked capable of breaking their losing run with a lacklustre showing in the Welsh capital.

Cardiff turned up the heat early on as Adams got dangerous touches on both flanks, and a high tackle on Cabango saw Cardiff kick to the corner and drive over for Dacey's opening score after just three minutes, converted by Jarrod Evans.

Dacey bagged his second in the 18th minute in identical fashion after a Lloyd Williams 50-22 kick put Cardiff on the offensive, and four minutes later a searing Evans break and long pass allowed Adams to race over.

Lloyd Williams scored a try on his 250th appearance for Cardiff

Brive came close to working Valentin Tirefort clear in the left corner in a rare attack, but a superb 50-metre breakout from Thomas Young underlined his international credentials - although he departed at half-time with a knee strain, to be replaced by Wales star Taulupe Faletau.

After blowing several chances either side of the break, Cardiff were gifted the bonus-point score in bizarre fashion when Joeli Matalaweru's desperate attempt to keep the ball in play saw him flick it straight to Rhys Carre, who charged into the 22 and gave Williams the chance to mark his milestone in style with a neat finish.

Adams was taken off early as the win was sealed, with fellow Wales squad members Rhys Priestland and Dillon Lewis getting plenty of game time off the bench, although Tomos Williams was not used.

Lloyd Williams came close to a second, before replacement lock Teddy Williams finished the move from close range, Evans converting to make it 31-0 on the hour.

Priestland and Cabango came close to adding a sixth before Brive lost Tom Danovaro to the sin-bin and Grady was worked over in the resulting gap after 77 minutes.

Grady then turned provider with a break for Cabango to finish and reward those members of the crowd who stayed the distance in the chill.

Cardiff's next game is away to Newcastle Falcons, who lost their opener 22-8 in Connacht.

Cardiff director of rugby Dai Young told BBC Sport Wales:

"We would have settled for that before the game, the nil (against) is just as pleasing as the seven tries, but lots of things didn't go as well as we would have liked.

"I wasn't totally comfortable going in 19-0 up at half-time because we should have had a few more points on the board, we kicked on but I felt we didn't really get out of third gear and we're going to have to be a lot better next week (at Newcastle).

"Lloyd has deserved player of the match because for anyone to put 250 games together for any club is a huge achievement, and Lloyd will tell you he's still got plenty of rugby left in him. He's a quality operator and the players were determined to get the right result for him."

Captain Josh Turnbull said:

"It was a crisp first half, we got what we wanted early doors but it got a bit scrappy second half because we couldn't win line-out ball which we'd used very well early to get our maul going.

"Newcastle aren't doing too badly in the league, they'll have a decision to make (on selection) but I'm just pleased with our squad and we've shown a bit of strength in depth with internationals on the bench coming on.

"(Winning) the Challenge Cup gives you an entry into the Champions Cup and that's the goal, you want to be playing against the best teams, but we've got a bit of history in this competition and there's no better time for us."

Cardiff: Ben Thomas; Josh Adams, Rey Lee-Lo, Max Llewellyn, Theo Cabango; Jarrod Evans, Lloyd Williams; Rhys Carré, Kristian Dacey, Dmitri Arhip, Lopeti Timani, Seb Davies, Josh Turnbull (capt), Thomas Young, James Ratti

Replacements: Kirby Myhill, Brad Thyer, Dillon Lewis, Teddy Williams, Taulupe Faletau, Tomos Williams, Rhys Priestland, Mason Grady.

Brive: Mathis Ferte; Valentin Tirefort, Wesley Douglas, Thomas Laranjiera (capt), Joris Jurand; Enzo Herve, Enzo Sanga: Wesley Tapueluelu, Lucas da Silva, Tietie Tuimauga, Renger van Eerten, Andres Zafra, Matthieu Voisin, Joeli Matalaweru, Abraham Papali'i.

Replacements: Floran Dufour, Hayden Thompson-Stringer, Francisco Coria-Marchetti, Tevita Ratuva,Noe Bedou, Paul Abadie, Tanguy Lacoste, Tom Danovaro.

Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)

Assistant referees: Alex Frasson & Franco Rosella (Italy)

TMO: Stefano Roscini (Italy)

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