With the Six Nations on a fallow week, one would reasonably assume that the world of rugby was take a well-earned break before the climax of it’s oldest competition… well, you assumed wrong, dear reader!

Welsh rugby fans were treated to a packed weekend full of URC and Celtic Challenge action, as well as plenty of Welsh interest in the Premier Women’s Rugby semi-finals.

Ospreys Win A Game For the Ages

When Toby Booth left his role as head coach of the Ospreys in December, he had led his side to just two United Rugby Championship wins in the first seven games of the season. Losing to Dragons and Zebre were galling, while the 59-15 thrashing at Montpellier was the last straw.

Fast forward, three months and Ospreys have won five in seven, drawing one at Cardiff, with the only defeat a 19-22 loss to the all-conquering Leinster.

The job that Mark Jones has done to transform the side has been as impressive as it has been instantaneous.

Saturday’s evening’s defeat of Glasgow Warriors was another level entirely. Beating the reigning URC champions away for the first time since 2016 would have been more than enough, but the manner of the victory made it all the more special.

Ospreys flew out of the blocks, scoring three tries in the first fifteen minutes.

Morgan Morse, a sure thing for a Wales debut this year, was everywhere, popping up at the bottom of a maul to score the opener, before peeling off the back of a scrum on halfway, stepping his opposite number, and offloading to set Kieran Hardy away for the second.

Glasgow showed why they are still in pole position for a play-off spot by coming back into the game, eventually leading 24-22 with ten minutes to go.

Kieran Hardy’s second try of the match earnt his side the lead again, but Glasgow thought they’d won it with a maul try of their own in the 78th minute. With the score 31-29 and the clock in the red as Jack Walsh kicked off for the final time, Ospreys knew that they needed to recover the ball or hope for a miracle.

Up stepped Justin Tipuric. The soon-to-be retired openside had been his usual tireless self all evening, and came up with a turnover penalty for the ages. Walsh displayed nerves of steel to kick Ospreys to victory, sparking scenes of rare joy.

With the race for the URC play-offs typically tight, Ospreys will need to keep picking up points if they are to qualify for a second season in a row.

Last season the chances of qualification with a few matches to go was as low as 2%. If you had offered that to Mark Jones in December, he’d have thought you were being kind on a new head coach. Now, he’d scoff and say his side have a much better chance than that.

Cardiff Push Leinster With Bonus Point Display

Cardiff put in a creditable display as they earnt a bonus point in defeat away at Leinster on Saturday.

Most sides travel to Dublin with trepidation, but Cardiff were excellent in a pulsating first half. Their equalising try, after a maul try from the home side’s John McGee, was beautifully worked.

Cam Winnett sped through a gap, collecting a glorious delayed pass from Callum Sheedy, and displayed great composure to throw a perfect dart off his right hand without slowing down to send Harri Millard away. It was a piece of skill that marked Winnett out as such a promising talent in Welsh rugby.

When Thomas Young ploughed over, it looked like Cardiff would go into the break with the lead. Leinster, though, had other ideas.

First, newly-capped Ireland prop Jack Boyle went over, before a flurry of three tries in the first ten minutes of the second period put the result beyond doubt.

The visitors struck back twice, again through Harri Millard and replacement Ellis Bevan, earned a bonus point which boosts their play-off chances.

Scarlets Lose Thriller To Ulster

Scarlets, like their arch rivals Ospreys, flew out of the blocks in Northern Ireland, scoring twice in the first ten minutes to go 0-12 up at Kingspan Stadium.

Macs Page was found in acres of space by a chip from Gareth Davies, collecting and speeding past the Ulster backline to score.

Page was once again in the thick of the action as he turned on the afterburners to speed round Jacob Stockdale and put Ioan Nicholas away. Capable of playing either in the centre or on the wing, Page, like Morse, is another who will be likely capped for Wales at some point this year.

Ulster came back in the first half to lead by a point, before Scarlets took control in the second half. A trio of penalties from Ioan Lloyd and an opportunistic try from Vaea Fifita.

A try from Callum Reid kept Ulster within touching distance and they broke Scarlet hearts as captain Alan O’Connor powered over with three minutes to go.

With a bonus point in the bag, Scarlets remain in the play-offs picture, but will need to pick up wins against Stormers and Ospreys in their next couple.

Dragons Left Wondering When Season Will End

As Joe Westwood crossed to put his side 7-21 up in Parma, he and his teammates must have had half an eye on just a second win of the URC season.

Such is the Dragons season this term, they would fly back to Newport without a single point, let alone a win. A brace from Brodie Coghlan and the aforementioned Westwood score put Dragons into a healthy lead.

Zebre, though, kept their heads and picked off their opponents with an expertise usually reserved for sides in the upper echelons of the table.

When Geronimo Prisciantelli kicked the penalty to take Zebre to 31-21 ahead, the disappointment on the Dragons’ faces were evident.

Since beating the Ospreys on the opening day of the season, Dragons have won just once – a hard-fought clash with Newcastle Falcons in the Challenge Cup. Perhaps more worrying is their lack of losing bonus points.

Since losing 22-24 to Cardiff in the Boxing Day derby, they have lost six matches without picking up a single point and at an average defeat of 22 points.

Brython Win As Gwalia Title Hopes End

Wales international lock Gwen Crabb scored a brace as Brython Thunder secured just a second win of the Celtic Challenge season.

Crabb’s double put Brython into a 14-point lead, one that they would not relinquish in Glasgow. The result lifts the side off the bottom of the table, leapfrogging Warriors – their opponents on Saturday. With another fixture against Glasgow next weekend to finish, Brython could rise as high as fourth in the table after a solid end to the campaign.

Gwalia Lightning, though, had their title chances ended by a phenomenal Wolfhounds performance at Ystrad Mynach. The Irish visitors scored seven first half tries to lead 0-41, before Gwalia came back strongly in the second period.

Rhodd Parry got Gwalia on the board, before captain Bryonie King continued her good form with a second score, and Caitlin Lewis had the final say.

With Wales’s squad for the Six Nations set to be announced shortly, a number of Gwalia players have put their hands up in recent weeks, including Maisie Davies, King, and Carys Hughes, who were all impressive in defeat.

---

Sportin Wales’s coverage of the men’s and U20’s Six Nations is proudly sponsored by S4C. You can watch all of Wales’s matches this spring for free on S4C and S4C Clic.

If you want to read more pieces from Sportin Wales, why not read to our monthly magazine here or subscribe to the magazine and newsletter at https://sportin.wales/subscribe/.

Our podcast is back for the new season and our co-founder Alex Cuthbert is in charge! You can find all the episodes here or the video versions on our YouTube channel.

You can also keep track of our pieces and videos on our socials at @Sportin_Wales on X or Sportin Wales on Instagram and Facebook.