After a week of more discussion about the future of Welsh regional rugby, Cardiff came out of the weekend’s action in the best shape, winning the derby over the Dragons, while Scarlets and Ospreys fell to away defeats at Glasgow Warriors and Zebre Parma respectively.

We also enjoyed a full round of Super Rygbi Cymru on Saturday, so without further ado, let’s get into it!

Cardiff’s Remarkable Run Continues

Matt Sherratt’s Cardiff side maintained their incredible dominance in this particular fixture, winning their 19th successive match against Dragons on Saturday afternoon.

After a cagey opening half an hour in which Dragons led 3-9, Cardiff turned on the style, scoring four tries in the 20 minutes either side of halftime to build an unassailable lead.

Alex Mann powered over for the first, having replaced the injured Ben Donnell, before Ben Thomas’ lovely floated pass found Harri Millard free on the wing for the second.

Just two minutes after the interval, flyhalf Callum Sheedy – sporting some nasty-looking war wounds on his face from the synthetic pitch – scored his side’s third try. The returning Josh Adams broke the line in style and Cam Winnett’s delayed pass found Sheedy to dot down.

By now, Cardiff were playing some really attractive rugby. The ball was finding the slick hands of Thomas and Winnett often and Ray Lee-Lo was the beneficiary for the bonus point try.

With the score at 31-9, the game could have got ugly for Dragons, but the side showed a resolve that new coach Filo Tiatia was looking for, scoring two late tries through substitutes Morgan Lloyd and Aki Seiuli.

“We’re disappointed,” said Tiatia.

“We created a lot of pressure in the first half but we didn’t capitalise on our opportunities. I was pleased with a lot of the decision-making but we need to learn how to make sure you score points when you have your foot on their throat.

“I enjoyed the character shown late on and the young guys coming off the bench gave us an edge but we were chasing the game.”

Scarlets Miss Opportunity Against The Champions

Scarlets will have travelled back to West Wales on Saturday frustrated, having had the chances to record a well-fought win over reigning URC champions Glasgow Warriors on Friday night.

It is a sign of how much Dwayne Peel has improved his side that they were able to keep Glasgow at bay for much of the game. Conceding just two tries against the league’s highest scorers is no easy feat.

Scarlets deserved their halftime lead of 7-8, scoring through skipper Josh Macleod. Macleod formed part of a formidable back row with Dan Davis and Vaea Fifita that dominated on the floor, repeatedly turning dangerous Warrior attacks into Scarlets possession.

With the score 17-15 to the home side, Ioan Lloyd, filling in at flyhalf for the injured Sam Costelow, missed a presentable penalty from 40 metres out before having a much more difficult drop-goal attempt charged down.

For Scarlets, coming away from Scotstoun with one point after three straight wins was a little frustrating, but many more sides will leave Glasgow with less this season.

Ospreys Loss At Zebre Raises Anger And Difficult Questions

Zebre recorded a first victory over Welsh opposition since April 2022 as they beat an out-of-sorts Ospreys side.

A brace of tries from Simone Gesi in the first half gave Zebre a lead that they never let go of. The visitors looked low on confidence and out of ideas pretty quickly, with only a late consolation from Daniel Kasende earning Toby Booth’s side a losing bonus point.

“I’m disappointed, we had plenty of opportunities at the right end of the pitch, [but we] couldn’t execute well enough and we got killed at the breakdown,” said Booth.

“It was very difficult, the referee penalised them strongly, we didn’t change behaviour, but we need to be better. Credit to Zebre for the result and the way they approached the match, they were everything we weren’t.

“They didn’t have the opportunities that we had, but they converted them on the scoreboard and that’s all that matters.”

After a week of major Welsh rugby outlets debating whether it would be healthier for the game to cut a region, with Ospreys often considered the most likely to go of the four, it is understandable for fans to be feeling especially frustrated on a Monday morning.

With a couple of rounds of European action to come and then the festive derbies, Ospreys have a great opportunity to make a few people in Welsh rugby eat their words over the next month.

Cardiff and Ebbw Vale Set For Tight Title Fight

The Super Rygbi Cymru title race continued to pick up the pace this weekend, as Cardiff and Ebbw Vale both picked up victories.

The Rags beat Pontypool convincingly (27-10) at the Arms Park, while Ebbw Vale put bottom side Swansea away easily, running out 20-40 winners.

Elsewhere, Newport showed why you cannot count them out of a title charge, as they kept the pace with the top two, beating Carmarthen Quins 31-20.

There were also home wins for Llandovery (28-12) and Aberavon (34-18) over Bridgend and RGC respectively to conclude Saturday’s action.

Results

Friday

Glasgow Warriors 17-15 Scarlets

Saturday

Cardiff Rugby 31-23 Dragons RFC

Zebre Parma 22-17 Ospreys

Aberavon Rugby 34-18 RGC

Cardiff RFC 27-10 Pontypool RFC

Llandoveryrfc 28-12 Bridgend Ravens

Newport RFC 31-20 Carmmarthen Quins RFC

Swansea RFC 20-40 Ebbw Vale RFC

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