CARDIFF — Cardiff continued their promising start to the United Rugby Championship campaign with a 40-27 six-try bonus-point victory over Zebre at the Arms Park in front of 7,231 supporters.
Wing Tom Bowen scored twice, with lock Teddy Williams, prop Javan Sebastian, number eight Taine Basham and flanker Alex Mann also crossing as Cardiff backed up their opening-weekend victory against Scarlets. Zebre, beaten 47-13 by the Bulls in round one, replied through hooker Francisco Minervino, replacements Giacomo Ferrari and Giacomo Da Re and centre Giulio Bertaccini, with Da Re adding two conversions and Tommaso Allan kicking a penalty. Cardiff led 26-8 at half-time and 40-8 midway through the second half before Zebre scored three tries in the final 21 minutes.
Cardiff made four personnel changes from the Scarlets win, with hooker Dafydd Hughes and James Botham replacing captain Liam Belcher and Dan Thomas, while lock Josh McNally captained the side. Mason Grady and Cameron Winnett were ruled out through injury, with Harri Millard and Bowen on the wings and Jacob Beetham at full-back. Williams marked his first competitive home game since a serious foot injury in October 2025 at the Arms Park with the opening try, powering over after a pass from Mann, before Sebastian scored from a tap penalty. Basham, in his second season with Cardiff after moving from Dragons, crashed over from an attacking scrum for his second try of the season, and Mann secured the bonus point in the 36th minute after a pass from Ben Thomas and a dummy from Hughes.
Fly-half Callum Sheedy, who went viral for heading the ball against Scarlets last week, created the fifth try with a clever grubber for Bowen, and scrum-half Johan Mulder then set up Bowen for his second after replacements were introduced. Hooker Evan Lloyd covered the back row after coming on for Basham, and 18-year-old hooker Tom Howe made his senior Cardiff debut. Zebre finished strongly through Ferrari, Bertaccini and Da Re, who crossed after a break from full-back Giovanni Montemauri, to secure a bonus point. Cardiff now travel to face defending champions Leinster in Dublin next Saturday.