Oil on canvas taken from a series exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants in 1913, "Cardiff Team" is an essential key to understanding the work of Robert Delaunay.

Adopting the techniques of Cubism by Braque and Picasso, he uses simultaneous contrasts of colors to give rhythm to his work, emphasizing movement and speed, major elements of his reflection on what he witnessed in his time.
He further evokes these elements by abandoning the abstract in favor of depicting a rugby scene as the main subject of this painting, a sport whose popularity was growing, mainly in the French capital, since its inclusion in the 1900 Olympic Games and France's admission to the nations participating in the Tournament in 1910.

The choice of the scene is not random; the lineout in rugby is the action during which a player rises into the air to catch the moving ball.
Consistent with the composition of the painting, this elevation can easily bring us back to the notion of progress that the numerous industrial and technological revolutions of the early 20th century represented in the painter's eyes.

Fascinated by aeronautics, Delaunay offers us a rugby scene in harmony with the aerial references present in the background, such as the Ferris wheel, the young, essentialized Eiffel Tower pointing towards a sky in which old models of airplanes fly, as well as an advertising panel "Astra - Société construction aéroplane".
He also makes sure to write his name on one of these panels, whose appearance in the centers of large French cities was the subject of much debate, their colors and advertising objectives notably contrasting with the sobriety, even austerity, of the buildings.

In summary, this aesthetically timeless painting is, in addition to an artistic revolution due to its inspirations, an ode to modernity transcribed by geometric shapes, color, and movement, relating the major changes of an era of which Robert Delaunay is a brilliant witness.