In the opening weekend of the United Rugby Championship season, Cardiff were the only one of the four regions to earn a victory – over the Lions – while Dragons, Ospreys, and Scarlets battled hard as they all eventually feel to defeats.

We round all that up and take a look at the other goings on in the Welsh rugby world from the weekend:

Cardiff secure first win despite Thomas red

Cardiff proved that there is still life at the Cardiff Arms Park after Matt Sherratt, with a strong showing against the Lions on Saturday evening.

Eventually winning 33-20, the result was in some jeopardy when Ben Thomas – who had scored Cardiff’s opener – was sent off for a dangerous cleanout after half an hour.

With the score 14-20 when the numbers were levelled up after 20 minutes, Cardiff showed great resilience and no little skill to score three more tries and take the game away from their South African opposition.

Substitute Evan Lloyd powered over for a brace, while the ever-impressive Alex Mann added the other.

Ospreys attack hard but wilt at Pretorian altitude

Despite eventually falling to a 53-40 defeat to the Bulls, Ospreys showed great attacking ambition, scoring six tries – including four in an excellent first half display.

Playing at altitude in their first game of the season was always going to be a difficult task, but the Ospreys flew out of the blocks, scoring with a strike play to put Keelan Giles over, while there were prominent performances from wing Dan Kasende and the midfield of Phil Cokanasiga and two-try centre Kieran Williams.

Add in the playmaking of Dan Edwards and Jack Walsh, plus the threat from back-rowers on the edges, and there is plenty of promise with ball in hand.

Making 12 clean breaks, Mark Jones is clearly building on his excellent work from last season. Add in the growing influence of Justin Tipuric as defence coach, and the Ospreys may have a winning formula on their hands this season.

Scarlets leave themselves with too much to do

Facing Munster at home on the opening weekend of the season could have been the perfect chance to put a marker down for Scarlets to build on a positive 2024/25 campaign.

However, a stuttering first half, after which they trailed 0-13, left Dwayne Peel’s side with too much to do, despite scoring three wellworked tries in the second period.

Tries from last season’s brightest trio – Ellis Mee, Blair Murray, and Taine Plumtree – put some gloss on what is a disappointing scoreline for the West Walian side.

Summer signings Joe Hawkins and Jake Ball put in a shift but it was young hooker Harry Thomas who impressed boss Dwayne Peel after being promoted from the bench.

“It was his first competitive start, he’s a tough cookie and a Llanelli lad which is great, he can probably walk home from here,” he said.

Scarlets face a tough trip to Connacht in round two with Peel urging his side to be more ruthless in Galway.

Dragons fly out of the blocks but fade fast

Despite the summer of renewal and good preseason results, the Dragons fell to an 18th straight defeat in the URC after losing 42-21 to Ulster on Friday night.

An away trip to Belfast to open the season was always going to be a tough ask, but when Aaron Wainwright scored a stunning try after just 10 seconds, it looked as though a corner had truly been turned.

But four tries in the space of 15 minutes put Ulster in control though Dragons showed tenacity and were within a marginal forward pass of a fourth try and a bonus point.

Fly-half Tinus de Beer impressed on his debut but Dragons’ discipline was poor and they shipped six tries and 42 points, which must be addressed if they are to improve. Sharks at home next weekend – without their plethora of Springboks – is an ideal chance to end Dragons’ losing run.

Any other business?

Away from the URC, two Welshmen – one far more famous than the other – scored for Bristol in their 42-24 victory over Leicester Tigers. While Louis Rees-Zammit caught the headlines for his blistering, game-sealing try, the lesser-known Josh Carrington – making his Premiership debut – was pivotal off the bench, scoring a lovely taken try to edge the Bears ahead in a tight game.

Elsewhere in the Premiership (PREM), Dafydd Jenkins replaced Christ Tshiunza at halftime and inspired his Exeter side to comeback from 33-7 to draw 33-33 with Northampton Saints.

Away from the pitch, hundreds of Scarlets supporters gathered before their match with Munster to protest the WRU and it’s proposals to cut the number of regions in future seasons.

Supporters opposed to the changes attended a “save our Scarlets” march from Llanelli town centre to Parc y Scarlets prior to the match on Saturday.

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