Cardiff Rugby booked their place in the knockout stages of the EPCR Challenge Cup this weekend, beating Racing 92 32-13 at the Arms Park.

Ospreys also progressed through to the round of 16, despite a tight defeat in Parma against Zebre, while Dragons and Scarlets’ defeats meant their European future will be decided on next weekend in the final round of fixtures.

Let’s get into the action!

Cardiff impress but made to wait for their fate

Cardiff were excellent in their four-try 32-13 victory over French giants Racing 92 on Saturday, but were made to wait to find out whether their place in the round of 16 would be confirmed.

Ulster’s match against South African side Cheetahs in the Netherlands was cancelled, with the Irish side eventually awarded a 28-0 walkover victory.

The Arms Park outfit travel to face Exeter next Sunday knowing an away win could set up a home tie in the last 16.

However, they also have to consider their United Rugby Championship (URC) play-off hopes when they face Benetton the following weekend.

“Exeter will be a challenge because we know how good they’ve been this season,” said coach Corniel van Zyl.

“We’ll have to get the selection right to make sure we keep the boys fresh then with Benetton, which will be a short turnaround of six days.”

Cardiff’s success raises the perennial question for Welsh clubs: with the shrinking sizes of squads, can they compete on both a domestic and European level.

With the likes of Iwan Stephens, Cornel Smit, George Nott, and Rhys Barratt all coming into the side and performing well, perhaps the capital club can buck that recent trend.

Ospreys through despite Zebre defeat

With Cardiff made to wait, Ospreys were the first side to confirm their spot in the Challenge Cup knockout rounds, despite a narrow defeat to Zebre in Italy.

Trailing 13-0 at halftime, tries from Morgan Morse, Kieron Williams and the newly resigned Dan Edwards saw Ospreys take a 16-19 lead in the final 10 minutes, only to fall to defeat with Zebre flanker Locatelli securing the late crucial score.

With Montpellier at home next week, Ospreys’ bonus point victories over Connacht and Montauban have seen them through. A win will all but seal top spot in Pool 1 for the Welsh side.

“We created a lot of the issues in the first half and put ourselves on the back foot, allowing Zebre to grow in confidence,” a frustrated Mark Jones said.

“We did well at half-time to action some of the problems we had and started to attack in the way we could get some benefit.

“We could have won and probably should of. Unfortunately we were too loose and let Zebre off from those pressure moments too often.”

Dragons rotation gamble backfires

Dragons suffered their third-heaviest loss in recent times as Filo Tiatia’s rotation gamble failed spectacularly. Benetton ran in 11 tries as they thrashed their visitors 74-21 in Treviso.

Hooker Oli Burrows, wing Rio Dyer and number eight Shane Lewis-Hughes crossed for Dragons, but it was a humiliating defeat for a side with a number of Super Rygbi Cymru regulars in the backline and on the bench.

The result means that Tiatia’s side have no margin for error in round four when they host Newcastle and Tiatia held a host of big names back against Benetton because of the six-day turnaround.

He will hope that talisman Aaron Wainwright, Ben Carter, Harri Keddie, Angus O’Brien, Che Hope and Fine Inisi can return to help get the job done for a fourth straight win on home soil.

Victory would take them temporarily above both Perpignan and Lions, who meet in France on Saturday afternoon.

Only a draw at Stade Aime Giral would put the Dragons at risk of elimination on points difference if they beat Newcastle.

Scarlets entertain in thrilling defeat

Despite a third successive defeat in the EPCR Champions Cup, Scarlets played some excellent rugby in their 38-47 loss to Pau.

The Top 14 side stormed into the lead with four tries inside the first half an hour, with Dwayne Peel’s men staring down the barrel of another sobering loss.

Josh Macleod twice crossed to drag Scarlets back into the contest, with Archie Hughes’ effort bringing them back to within two points.

Taine Plumtree and Joe Hawkins burst over after the break to give Scarlets’ fans hope, only for Pau to show their pedigree with three unanswered tries from Remi Seneca, Theo Attissogbe and Siate Tokolahi.

After the final round of fixtures next weekend, the top four teams qualify for the last 16 of the Champions Cup, while fifth-placed teams drop into the same stage of the Challenge Cup.

Mathematically, Scarlets can still get into the top four, but they would need to start with a bonus-point victory at Northampton Saints, who currently top of the English Premiership, and hope Pau slip up against Bulls.

More realistic for Peel’s side is fifth place and a spot in the Challenge Cup. To secure that, they need to match the number of points the Bulls pick up against their French opposition.

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