Initially, the friendly games were contested as promised between full-strength teams. Cardiff's first home fixture came against Saracens, with over 10,000 fans attending Cardiff Arms Park to watch Cardiff defeat Saracens by 40-19. The quality of opposition continued to remain high until the end of the year, however as the season progressed into 1999, the demands of the Premiership season combined with the loss of players to international callups during the 1999 Five Nations tournament led to reduced strength sides being fielded by some Premiership clubs, and blowout scores being recorded as a result, including Cardiff beating a development Richmond side by 96-28 in May. By comparison, Richmond had won the December encounter between the two sides 35-28.