We were treated to another fantastic rugby weekend in Wales, as Ospreys found a way yet again, this time against the Stormers, Cardiff mounted a fantastic comeback over Scarlets, and Dragons were brought back down to earth by Leinster.

Elsewhere, Australia took revenge on Wales women in the WXV2 opener in South Africa, and there was an almost-full round of Super Rygbi Cymru after Newport’s trip to Aberavon succumbed to the rain on Thursday evening.

Young Halfbacks Lead The Way For Ospreys

Ospreys were magnificent in Bridgend on Saturday night as they ran out 37-24 winners over strong South African outfit Stormers.

The visitors started strongly, leading 3-13 after 25 minutes before Owen Watkins break and captain Jac Morgan’s bundle over reduced the arrears before halftime.

A Damian Willemse drop-goal gave the Stormers a six-point cushion, but the Ospreys ‘stormed’ back (sorry). Ospreys two young halfbacks led the charge, Reuben Morgan-Williams crashing over before Dan Edwards converted a drop-goal of his own to take Ospreys into the lead. for the first time.

They then combined in emphatic style for the third try. An over-thrown lineout was collected by Keiran Williams who offloaded for a breaking Morgan-Williams. The scrumhalf chipped ahead of the cover defence, collected and offloaded himself to the arriving Edwards for a stunning score.

Stormers showed their quality, with a JD Schickerling try bringing the game back to within one score.

As the game wound down though, the soon-to-be retiring Justin Tipuric showed why he will be missed so much. His grubber kick found touch right on the five metre line, before he wrapped up the South African ball-carrier at the subsequent lineout, forcing a turnover.

Moments later, and with the clock in the red, Ospreys maul looked destined for the line before being illegally collapsed, giving them a penalty try and the bonus point victory.

With Autumn Internationals only a few weeks away, the performances of Edwards and Morgan-Williams will no doubt have peaked the interest of Warren Gatland and his coaching staff, who have tried and failed in conjure a halfback partnership as slick and accurate as the two youngsters.

Cardiff Mount Comeback To Sink Scarlets

After a horror opening ten minutes where Scarlets stormed out of the traps to lead 15-0, Cardiff came back to win 15-24 as they scored four unanswered tries at Parc Y Scarlets.

Macs Page, continuing his excellent form from last weekend, scored after a remarkable 14 seconds to gave the host an early lead. Cardiff attempted a little trick play from the kick-off, with Callum Sheedy handing it off to Ben Thomas.

The inside centre’s kick was plucked out of the sky by a flying Tom Rogers whose own kick landed fortuitously in the hands of Page. The teenagers had a clean run-in to score and give Scarlets the perfect start.

Wales forward Taine Plumtree, who had an excellent game at number eight, scored a second ten minutes later after the returning Sam Costelow flung a wide pass to the Swansea-born man to crash over.

At 15-0 down, Cardiff could’ve collapsed, but they rallied to score two tries of their own before halftime.

A rolling maul try, marshalled by the excellent Josh McNally, gave skipper Liam Belcher a first try since November last year before Cam Winnett’s lovely line break and assist for the ever-willing Mason Grady to bring the game within one score.

Harri Millard scored the visitors third try after the break, finishing a straight forward move while Scarlets were briefly down to 13 men. Costelow then missed a relatively simple penalty that would’ve given the hosts the lead again.

Ben Thomas, impressive again from inside centre, confirmed the victory with a slightly shambolic try ‘set-up’ by Mason Grady’s fumble.

Back-to-back five-point wins for Cardiff mean that they sit top of the URC, level with Leinster at this early stage.

Dragons Suffer Under The Leinster Pressure Machine

Speaking of Leinster, the Irish region ran out 34-6 winners at the Aviva Stadium on Friday, bringing Dragons back down to earth after a dream start to the season.

With a six-day turnaround and a trip out to Dublin, one could forgive Dragons somewhat for their slightly lacklustre second half performance.

After propelling most blue attacks in the second and going into the sheds with the score a creditable 10-6, Dragons faded in the second half, with Leinster eventually running in six tries in total.

With back-to-back home matches against South African sides Sharks and Lions, both of whom lost more matches than they won last season, Dragons have the chance to bounce back and show that fight that they displayed against Ospreys can continue throughout this season.

Australia Avenge Last Week’s Loss In South Africa

After beating Australia for the first time in their history last week, Wales fell to a 37-5 defeat out in South Africa in the first match of their WXV2 campaign.

After matching Australia blow-for-blow in the first half, going into halftime 10-5 down, Wales familiar second half failings reared it’s head, as the Wallaroos ran in four tries in the second period.

Shorn of their most impactful front five player Sisilia Tuipulotu due to a visa issue delaying her arrival in South Africa, Wales struggled at set piece and in defence.

In the wake of 37 new professional contracts, with the WRU proudly proclaiming the squad as one of the highest paid in the world, this latest set back will leave a bitter taste in Ioan Cunningham’s mouth.

With kinder fixtures against Italy and Japan still to come, Wales can yet turn their form around ahead of a massive 2025 which includes a Six Nations and Rugby World Cup.

Newport Stay Top Despite Match Postponed

Despite their clash with Aberavon succumbing to the weather on Thursday night, Newport stayed top of Super Rygbu Cymru thanks to the early competitiveness of the new league.

Only Swansea are yet to record a victory in their opening three games, but pushed Bridgend hard on Saturday, losing 24-27 at home.

Elsewhere, there were strong performances from RGC over Pontypool (61-42) and Carmarthen Quins at home to Cardiff RFC (31-19), while the game of the weekend was Ebbw Vale’s high scoring win over Llandovery, with the score eventually settling at 38-29.

This weekend’s results leaves four teams on 11 points at the top of the table, and Ebbw Vale close behind on 10.

Results

Friday

Leinster 34-6 Dragons

Saturday

Australia 37-5 Wales

Scarlets 15-24 Cardiff

Carmarthen Quins 31-19 Cardiff RFC

Ebbw Vale 38-29 Llandovery

RGC 61-42 Pontypool

Swansea RFC 24-27 Bridgend Ravens

Ospreys 37-24 Stormers

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