A rare Dragons home win, a backroom coaching member putting his hands on a referee in a Welsh derby, a Scarlets drubbing in Dublin and farewell to a Welsh rugby legend. Just another weekend in Welsh rugby.
Following a week which included a damning independent review that found aspects of the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) culture as sexist, misogynistic, racist and homophobic and included an annual general meeting, the attention turned towards action on the field.
Exeter centre Joe Hawkins, ineligible for Wales selection, was player-of-the-match against Gloucester with Dafydd Jenkins and Louis Rees-Zammit also scoring tries in the same game.
The continued financial issues facing Welsh regions resurfaced with the Scarlets being hammered by Leinster and Ospreys admitting they could struggle to keep George North next season with more players potentially leaving Wales.
The budgets for the four professional sides has been reduced to £5.2m this season with a further cut to £4.5m for the 2024-25 campaign.
The four Welsh sides are in the bottom six positions of the URC table, below the two Italian sides, and have only recorded two wins against sides from other nations. It was predicted by many and promises to be a long winter.
Dragons end wait for home win
Despite all the doom and gloom, there was some celebration in Rodney Parade on Saturday evening and it has been a long time coming.
The Dragons recorded their first United Rugby Championship home win for more than a year, seeing off 14-man Ospreys 20-5.
Dragons last tasted home league success in Newport in October 2022 and now they finally have another Rodney Parade triumph.
Hooker Bradley Roberts and wing Rio Dyer scored tries after Ospreys wing Mat Protheroe was sent off for a dangerous challenge after just 28 minutes.
Full-back Cai Evans kicked two conversions and two penalties, with Dragons moving clear after Protheroe’s early touchdown.
Dyer and Roberts were outstanding, while player-of-the-match Evans demonstrated he could be an option for Warren Gatland at full-back for the 2024 Six Nations and can also cover the problem fly-half position.
Dragons will follow this up by travelling 8,000 miles to South Africa to face Sharks and Lions in successive weekends.
Head coach Dai Flanagan is set to be without Wales lock Ben Carter, who has a hamstring injury, and flanker Dan Lydiate who has a rib problem.
Dragons coach in hot water
Dragons head of performance Dan Baugh might find himself facing disciplinary action after putting his hands on referee Ben Whitehouse.
Tensions were running high in the first half with Whitehouse warning Baugh about the manner in which he had spoken to the official and threatened to banish him from the field.
Baugh protested, stating he could talk to his players and put his right hand on Whitehouse’s right upper arm.
Whitehouse responded, “Don’t touch me,” and indicated Baugh would not be allowed on the field again.
Dragons head coach Dai Flanagan said: “I was up in the gantry trying to figure things out and all I heard was that Dan couldn’t come back onto the field. I will look into it and try to speak to Ben.”
Baugh and Dragons might face further action from the URC this week.
Tackle school lessons needed
Welsh regions are battling with many issues on and off the field but Scarlets and Ospreys did themselves no favours with poor tackle technique that resulted in yellow and red cards.
In Dublin, centre Johnny Williams was shown a yellow card for a tip tackle after just 32 seconds, while replacement Scott Williams was sin-binned for a high challenge.
Ospreys lost Protheroe to a red card after his dangerous 28th minute head collision with Will Reed, although the Dragons fly-half was not sent for a head injury assessment (HIA).
Luke Morgan then ensured his team had no chance of battling back when he was shown a yellow card for a needless dangerous tip tackle on Dyer.
Ospreys were down to 13 men and any hope of a revival ended as Dyer scored where Morgan should have been defending.
Saying that, Ospreys were poor and deserved nothing from the game and also lost captain Justin Tipuric to a thumb injury.
Toby Booth’s side will be looking to put that right at home against nearest rivals Scarlets in Swansea next Saturday.
Tough night for Scarlets
Leinster started with 10 of Ireland’s World Cup squad, as the international contingent returned in force for home boss Leo Cullen.
Hugo Keenan, Gary Ringrose, Jimmy O’Brien, Jamison Gibson-Park, Andrew Porter, Ronan Kelleher, Joe McCarthy, James Ryan, Josh van der Flier and Caelan Doris went straight into the starting XV, while three of their international colleagues made the bench.
In contrast, Scarlets did not send a full-strength side to Dublin with players like Ioan Lloyd, Gareth Davies and Vaea Fifita rested, head coach Dwayne Peel possibly targeting upcoming Welsh derbies against Ospreys and Cardiff.
Ironically it was considered by some fans one of the most encouraging performances of the season from Peel’s side.
All that while shipping 50 points for the third time this season. An indication of where the Welsh regions find themselves this season.
Cardiff denied win in Italy
It was a case of deja vu for Cardiff who failed to clinch a league victory as Zebre scored a converted try five minutes into stoppage time to salvage a 22-22 draw.
Replacement lock Leonard Krumov touched down following relentless pressure in the game’s final play, with fly-half Geronimo Prisciantelli’s conversion levelling things up.
Cardiff looked to have done enough as they overturned a one-point deficit during the final 14 minutes through a Tinus de Beer penalty and wing Mason Grady claiming his team’s third try.
De Beer also converted scores by centre Ben Thomas and number eight Lopeti Timani, highlighting Zebre’s weakness in that department after Prisciantelli and Jacopo Trulla missed 11 points between them off the tee.
Centres Franco Smith and Luca Morisi scored first-half tries tries for the home side, with Prisciantelli adding a conversion and penalty, before Zebre’s late show denied Cardiff an away win.
Cardiff have just one win in five matches but will be buoyed by the barnstorming ball-carrying performance of Timani, who produced an outstanding 27 carries, and their continued desire to play attacking rugby under Matt Sherratt. Cut out basic handling errors and the victories might come.
Farewell to a legend
And finally, former Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones was handed a standing ovation as he ended a glittering 19-year career with a win for Toulon.
Jones, 38, was named captain for the Top 14 fixture which they won 30-27 at Clermont Auvergne.
Clermont gave Jones a shirt before the game in which the lock was replaced mid-way through the second half to a standing ovation from the Stade Marcel Michelin crowd.
He was applauded off by both teams on 66 minutes only to reappear as a replacement for the final two minutes to help set up the winning try.
The ex-British & Irish Lions lock is the most-capped player in history. Jones made a world record 170 appearances, including 158 Wales caps and 12 Tests for the British and Irish Lions before retiring from international rugby in May 2023.
He joined the French side in July as injury cover for the World Cup after leaving Ospreys in the summer of 2023 following 17 years at the Welsh region.
Jones captained Barbarians against Wales in Cardiff earlier this month as he bid farewell to the Welsh rugby public.
Now he has signed off to the world although few would have predicted that would happen in Clermont.