When Sportin Wales co-founder Alex Cuthbert was asked on Monday’s Sportin Wales podcast if any Welsh team would win over the weekend his answer was unequivocal.

“None.”

The stats backed up that prediction. Before this weekend, no Welsh region had won outside of Wales this season.

With all four on the road a safe bet would have been no Welsh wins from four.

First up on Friday night was Cardiff as they travelled to Ulster.

“Cardiff will have a chance, especially after Ulster got pumped out of Europe against Clermont,” said Cuthbert on Monday.

“That could be the closest one.”

That prediction appeared to be correct when Cardiff lost controversially on Friday night by just two points, after winger Theo Cabango’s would-be hattrick try was disallowed for a perceived deliberate knock-on by Welsh international Rhys Carre.

It was another heartbreaking loss for Cardiff in the URC this season, of 14 games this season, they have won three, drawn one and lost 10, with nine of those losses by seven points or less, including three successive losses at Glasgow, Munster and now Ulster.

When you looked at the other fixtures this weekend it looked like Wales’ only hope of a win had been extinguished.

Dragons travelled to Treviso on Saturday and the game went much to form. In five first halves away from home since Christmas Day 2023 Dragons have conceded 121 points while scoring just 26.

Against Benetton, after 40 minutes Dai Flanagan’s men were already 19 points to nil down before they ate their half-time oranges and in truth things should have been worse.

However, in the second they began to come back into the game. Interception tries from Jarred Rosser and Dane Blacker narrowed the gap to just 12 points with 25 minutes remaining and then Rosser thought he’d broken free from Will Reed’s cross-kick only to be penalised for not releasing the ball after the tackle was completed.

Shortly after, substitute scrum-half Che Hope’s clearing kick was charged down with Edoardo Iachizzi scoring and the comeback was firmly off.

Next up, Ospreys in Cape Town to face Stormers. The Welsh region won on their last trip to South Africa, a 28-38 victory against the Lions in the European Challenge Cup but few gave them a hope of a win.

On the back of a disappointing loss to Gloucester last time out, the majority of pundits said a good result for the Ospreys would be a single four-try bonus point.

They’d do that, but oh so much more.

Tries from Luke Morgan and Sam Parry had given Ospreys a 7-10 lead with seconds remaining in the first half then Springbok fly-half Manie Libbok’s cross kick was fielded by Jack Walsh who fed Morgan for his second try and a 10-point lead at the change of ends.

The second half and the inevitable Stormers reaction as Evan Roos went over, but under masses of pressure, Ospreys’ defence stood strong with brilliant turnovers from Huw Sutton and Harri Deaves in particular.

With fewer than 20 minutes remaining, Deaves scored Ospreys’ fourth try, securing the crucial bonus point and gave his side a 10-point lead with time on their side.

As the Stormers pressure increased, Ospreys held strong until the final play of the game when Max Nagy’s deliberate knock on gave Stormers a penalty try and what may yet be a crucial losing bonus point as it lifted them above Ospreys into sixth in the URC.

Despite that, Ospreys took home five crucial points after a memorable 21-27 win and a first victory on foreign soil for a Welsh side in the league this season.

Morgan Morris was awarded player of the match although in truth anyone in an Ospreys shirt could have won the award.

“I don’t really know what to say, a load of boys put in the shift and I’m probably the lucky one to win Player of the Match, all 15 could have had it,” said Morris.

“To come here, I don’t think many teams win here so to do that is incredible for us.

“Mark Jones has come in and given us a defensive boost, we want to work really hard for each other, we love playing with each other and every game we fight till the end for each other.”

Not to be outdone by their West Wales rivals, Scarlets came out of the traps in the first half at Edinburgh later on Saturday evening, tries from Tom Rogers and Gareth Davies giving them a 7-15 half time lead.

However, in the second half Scarlets’ ill-discipline and Edinburgh’s physical dominance proved too much as they lost the second half by 36 points to three for a final score of 43-18.

It was another disappointing second half with Dwayne Peels’ men now having conceded 30 points or more 10 times this season in all competitions.

“I thought first half we were right in the game and good value for our half time lead,” said Peel after the match.

“I thought ill-discipline in the second half cost us some field position and put us under pressure. We weren’t clinical in our exit, couldn’t get out of our 22.

“I just felt we couldn’t sustain enough pressure, we 28% possession second half and it’s difficult to win when you don’t have the territory as well, when we had the ball in their half I thought we looked dangerous.”

With all the talk of financial difficulties for the Welsh regions this season, Cardiff, Scarlets and Dragons sit 12th, 14th and 15th respectively.

Ospreys are seventh and will hope to continue to buck the trend as they push for the top eight and play-offs.