The latest winners and losers from a busy weekend in Welsh rugby
Ospreys head coach Mark Jones speaks to his players after their win against the Sharks(Image: Geraint Nicholas/Huw Evans Agency)
It was a busy weekend in Welsh rugby as attention turned back to the United Rugby Championship.
After the Dragons’ European exploits in recent weeks, the focus was now on matters domestic – well, as domestic as you can get in a league consisting of Welsh, Scottish, Irish, Italian and South African teams.
Cardiff kept up their play-off hopes with a dramatic comeback victory over the Scarlets in Llanelli, while the Ospreys maintained their own slim hopes of reaching the top eight with a superb victory over the Sharks in Bridgend.
On Friday, the Dragons were beaten by the Bulls in Newport.
Elsewhere, France cruised past Wales Women at the Arms Park, while there was another weekend of WRU cup finals in the Principality Stadium.
With all that in mind, here are the winners and losers…
Winners
Ospreys
Beating South African opposition isn’t easy at the best of times. But ahead of a crucial week for the club off the pitch – with the latest deadline for their owners Y11 to buy Cardiff coming up – Mark Jones’ side put aside any off-field uncertainty to record an impressive victory over the Sharks.
Captain Jac Morgan was superb, with the Wales skipper playing the match in honour of his cousin Harri, who sadly passed away last week.
It was a superb effort across the board, with the Ospreys going down to 14 men for the final 15 minutes as the match went to uncontested scrums.
With results elsewhere going against them, the Ospreys’ play-off hopes remain slim. But, with Y11’s deal to buy Cardiff seemingly in jeopardy, this was another example of the Ospreys squad showing exactly what they can do beyond the off-field nonsense.
That particular spectre has been hanging over them for three months. It’s frankly ridiculous that it is still unfolding painfully slowly.
“I haven’t spoken to anybody about that,” said Jones afterwards, when asked about the ongoing uncertainty. “I have been solely focused with the coaches on preparing the team and making sure we got a result against Sharks.
“We made a decision some time ago just to focus on what we are here to do, which is prepare for rugby games. We know there are people doing their absolute best to make sure the Ospreys are in the strongest possible position it can be for Welsh rugby.
“I trust everybody at that level to get on with that and my job is to prepare the team. It’s concerning because there are livelihoods at stake.
“This is not new, this has been going on for most of the season and as much as it is tough, the boys deal with it in their own way and have done a cracking job. We want to keep going as we have done because I can’t speak highly enough of everybody in the organisation.”
Dillon Lewis and Rhodri Jones
The Dragons’ props have had to bide their time when it comes to hitting rucks in anger for the Men of Gwent.
Lewis had not played for 174 days, having suffered a calf injury against the Ospreys back in October.
As for Jones, he hadn’t played for the Dragons all season. He’d made some appearances for Newport, but his last match for Filo Tiatia’s side was almost a year ago – 356 days to be precise.
Against the Bulls on Friday, both made their returns off the bench.
While the performance or the result wasn’t perhaps what either would have wanted, with the South African side running away with things late on, it’s certainly a boost for the European semi-finalist to have two Wales internationals back in their ranks heading into the final weeks of the season.
Javan Sebastian
It would be easy to call Javan Sebastian an unlikely hero, after his two late tries either side of Cameron Winnett’s score helped Cardiff claw back a 17-point deficit in the final 10 minutes to beat the Scarlets.
But the tighthead has already crossed for scores this season against the Ospreys and Dragons. In fact, he’s now Cardiff’s second-highest try-scorer in the league behind Josh Adams.
Against his former club, Sebastian made a huge impact.
It wasn’t just the two tries. When the scoreline was 24-7, the Scarlets had a scrum on Cardiff’s five-metre line – with the Blue and Blacks on a yellow card warning.
The west Walians could have killed the game there, but Sebastian did superbly well to earn a scrum penalty and relieve the pressure on his side.
“He has been such a valuable player for us this year and fantastic since he’s come in,” said Cardiff lock Josh McNally afterwards. “He has a history at Scarlets also, so to see him come on to change the game and get those two scores is huge and well-deserved.
“All the boys coming on made a huge impact and that’s been a huge growth for us in the last 18 months.”
Local fans
It was another WRU Cup final weekend at the Principality Stadium, with the matches once again seeing towns and villages descend upon the Welsh capital.
The likes of Brecon and Pontyclun brought huge numbers on Sunday, with all four finals that day enjoying strong and noisy support.
As ever, it’s a great thing to witness.
Losers
Taine Plumtree
For most of the match, Scarlets back-row Plumtree was superb.
He scored a try, created another with a brilliant assist and caused all sorts of problems for Cardiff’s lineout. He would have been player of the match were it not for how his evening ended.
A seventh yellow card of the season cost the Scarlets massively, as the west Walians threw victory away.
There had been warning signs – with Plumtree penalised for an altercation with Wales team-mate Alex Mann in the first half.
Clearly, Plumtree is a very good player. But his discipline can only be described as a liability right now.
Injury worries
While Steve Tandy will have enjoyed some of the performances on offer this weekend, some injury worries wouldn’t have been to the Wales coach’s liking.
In Llanelli, two wings were forced off. Scarlets flyer Ellis Mee departed early with an ankle injury, while in-form Cardiff wing Mason Grady picked up a fractured thumb.
Over in England, Jarrod Evans suffered a shoulder injury for Harlequins against Bath.