Sheedy's instinctive header goes viral as Cardiff edge Scarlets in URC opener

Callum Sheedy headed the ball during Cardiff Rugby’s 21-15 BKT URC victory away to the Scarlets last weekend — and the clip has since been watched more than 800,000 times on social media, dividing opinion on whether the act was even legal.

The Welsh international fly-half says the moment was entirely unplanned. Chasing his own kick in the second half at Llanelli, Sheedy spotted Scarlets winger Blair Murray closing in and decided there was no time to bring the ball to his foot.

“I probably wasn’t thinking, that was the problem,” Sheedy told reporters. “I remember the ball sitting up and I could see Blair coming towards me and I thought it was going to be an aerial contest. I thought there needed to be a way of me getting the ball past him and there wasn’t enough time to get it down to my foot, so the nearest body part was my head. It all happened so fast.”

The 17-times capped fly-half admits he was caught off guard by the reaction once the final whistle blew. “I didn’t actually think about it at the time. Then, after the game, I went on my phone and my Instagram had blown up a bit. I’m glad people are enjoying it.”

Sheedy, who turns 31 later this month, has taken the attention in good humour. “I’ve had a laugh, looking back at the video, and the boys have given me a bit of stick.”

Whether the header was within the laws of the game remains unclear — Sheedy himself is unsure — but the result was not in doubt. Cardiff came from behind three times before securing a four-point haul on the road in a Welsh derby on the opening weekend of the URC season.

“It was a far from perfect performance,” Sheedy acknowledged. “But coming away with a win was massive. Four points away in a derby first game of the season, you’d be mad not to take that.”

Cardiff now return to the Arms Park for their first home league fixture of the campaign, with Zebre Parma the visitors on Friday night. Sheedy is eager to recreate the atmosphere that helped drive the club through tight finishes last season.

“Last season, we only lost one game there. We made it a bit of a fortress,” he said. “When there’s five minutes to go and you are blowing and you hear that Cardiff chant it just gives you that little two per cent extra to push. I can’t talk highly enough of how good the fans were last season.”

Sheedy recalled defending late in games with the crowd of 10,000 or 11,000 pushing Cardiff over the line, and is hoping supporters turn out in similar numbers against Zebre.