Elin Hopkins came off the ski slopes of Saalbach, in Austria, to slalom her way through the Bonymaen defensive system to steer Llandaff North to another WRU Women’s Cup final triumph at ‘Go Compare Road to Principality 2026’.
North’s midfield ace was named as the Player of the Match for her efforts in the four try triumph, one o0f which she scored and converted. Now she will join her teammates in trying to make a double winning season by adding the WRU Premier League title.
It was a third cup win at the home of Welsh rugby for Llandaff North, who were unable to defend their title last year after Bonymaen knocked them out in the semi-finals. This time they made no mistake as they triumphed 29-14.
“It was a great game. Fair play to Bonymaen for bringing it to us and giving us a really competitive game,” said Hopkins.
“I can’t begin to explain how proud I am of each and every one of our Llandaff North girls. We’ve really put in the effort this year, and now we’ve been rewarded.
“I’d been skiing for a week in the build-up to the final, but I knew the girls had been working extra hard – not just in the last week, but in all the weeks before. There have been months of preparation.
“Playing at Principality Stadium seems to bring out the best in us. Every single female player in Wales wants to play in this stadium, and we’ve been lucky enough to play here and win it for a third time – bring on next year!”
North skipper Cerys Sweetman wasn’t looking as far ahead as next year just yet, but is definitely setting her sights on more silverware this season
“We set out to be physical, we had a strategy, stuck to it and we got the result. Now we’re looking to do the double,” she said.
“We have a game on Sunday, so we don’t have any time off now. Even so, I’m confident going back into the league now.
“We were on top defensively in the first half and we felt we could get the ball back and create opportunities through our defence. We love that, it gives us energy and field position.”
Bonymaen are the nearest team in the Premiership to Llandaff North and are still in with an outside chance of taking the title. They also proved they are undoubtedly among the top teams in Wales with a gritty performance that saw them score two tries.
The game marked the end of a near 10-year coaching stint by their coach Colin Jones, who is following his wife, Angharad, into retirement after a stellar stint.
“We knew it was going to be a tough task after knocking them out in the semis last year. We knew they would come at us all guns blazing,” said Bonymaen skipper Amy Roberts.
“We dug deep in the first 20 minutes but then started to slide a little. We will build, get better and try to get back her again. It is a real privilege to be able to play at Principality Stadium.
“You saw the two best club teams in Wales playing today but we need a lot more support. We lost a few girls to the Celtic Challenge teams and a few to Wales U21.
“We wanted to win it for Colin, but we got here and we hope we made him proud.”