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Wales centre Willis Halaholo handed short-term Cardiff deal

Willis Halaholo of Cardiff Rugby in action during the match between Cardiff Rugby and the Vodacom Bulls in the United Rugby Championship on November 10, 2023 in Cardiff, Wales. (Photo by Huw Fairclough/Getty Images)

Willis Halaholo is set to stay at Cardiff until the end of the season after being handed a short-term deal by the region.

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The 33-year-old had been playing for the United Rugby Championship club this season on a month-by-month contract since signing a deal in October, but he will now stay until the end of the current campaign.

The 10-cap Wales international has been a Cardiff player since 2016, but was expected to leave at the end of last season while he was midway through rehabbing a ruptured Achilles. He spent preseason at the Welsh capital though, and was handed a new deal in October after proving his fitness, and has featured heavily at Cardiff Arms Park this season, passing 100 appearances for the club.

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After signing the new deal, Halaholo said: “I’m really happy to be staying here at the Arms Park for the rest of the season. It is a club that me and family love and there was a huge motivation to pull on the Blue and Black again this season and to reach 100 appearances,

“To be able to continue running out with the boys, and in front of our amazing Arms Park support, for the result of the season is something I am really grateful for and excited about.

“There are so many great young players coming through here. They are the future of the club but I am really enjoying being out there and also helping them along the way.”

Halaholo’s head coach Matt Sherratt said: “I’m really pleased we have been able to keep Willis at the club for the remainder of this season, and his family home in Cardiff.

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“He has got himself back following a really injury-hit season and is growing in confidence and prominence every week. As I have said previously, there is no doubt about his quality and he has the ability to create something out of nothing.

“This is a club that means a huge amount to him and to have his experience around some of the younger players at the Arms Park is really important.”

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Sumkunn Tsadmiova 568 days ago

Every deal with a Welsh region is a short term deal……😊

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Flankly 2 hours ago
There remains a culture of excuses in Australian rugby

One team has exceeded expectations in this series and the other has not. Hats off to a Wallabies team in rebuild mode for a smile-inducing effort in the second test (especially the first half).


Completely agree that a top ranked team finds ways to defend a big half-time lead, and they did not quite pull it off. The fact that Piardi did not run the Head Contact Process in the 79th minute Tizzano/Morgan incident is worth discussion. However, Schmidt will be pointing out to the team that avoiding a defensive breakdown on your own 5m line at that point in the game is the thing in their control. Equally, clarification 3-2022 says you cannot jump or dive as a means of avoiding a tackle, as Sheehan admits to have done, but the question for Australia is why and how they were facing a tap-and-go 5m from their line (again).


Where I disagree with this article is the suggestion that Australia are caught in an excuse-making trap of poor performance. For me they are on a steep curve of improvement, and from what we have seen of Schmidt, there is little reason to assume that this will end now. Granted Australia lacks player depth, and that’s a real problem against big teams and in major campaigns. But the Lions are a pretty good team, probably ranking in the top five in the world, and the rebuilding Wallabies were seconds (and a couple of 50/50 ref calls) away from beating them at the MCG.


In the end, the Wallabies are building to a home RWC, and were expected to lose the Lions series on the way to that goal. Success looks like being seriously competitive in the series loss, with good learnings about what needs to be fixed. A series win would have been a fantastic bonus, and humiliation for the UK/Ireland team.


I expect the Wallabies to be very credible in the 2025 RC, to be much better in 2026, and to be a very challenging opponent for any team in the 2027 RWC.

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