There was much to digest after an action packed weekend of rugby
It’s not often Irish giants Leinster and Munster lose to Welsh sides on the same weekend, but that is exactly what has happened.
Leinster fell flat on their faces at Parc y Scarlets, while Munster got beaten by Cardiff in front of a packed out and emotional Arms Park on Friday night. The Ospreys’ bonus point victory over the Dragons means there are three Welsh clubs in contention to reach the United Rugby Championship play-offs with just two rounds of the regular season to go.
But it wasn’t all a bed of roses as Wales Women ended the weekend with a 44-12 thrashing at the hands of Italy Women to finish the Six Nations with the wooden spoon.
Here are your winners and losers from an action packed weekend of rugby. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby.
Winners
Tomos Williams, Gareth Anscombe and Freddie Thomas
The 30-year-old scrum-half may have been a touch underwhelming during the Six Nations but at club level he has been the signing of the season in the Gallagher Premiership.
Williams was sensational once again, playing an instrumental role in Gloucester’s 79-17 thrashing of Exeter Chiefs at Kingsholm, getting named player of the match in the process.
The former Cardiff number nine caused havoc with the Exeter defence and scored an excellent try in the process but experienced Wales playmaker Gareth Anscombe was just as impressive.
Anscombe controlled the game well, with distribution and vision putting his outside backs into holes while he also claimed a try of his own.
Up-front Wales lock Freddie Thomas enjoyed a fine game as he dominated the lineouts and was prominent around the park with his carrying and handling ability paying dividends in the wide channels.
Taine Plumtree and the Scarlets
Very few pundits gave the Scarlets a cat in hell’s chance of beating URC table-toppers Leinster on Saturday but Dwayne Peel’s side defied the odds to claim a notable victory.
Yes, Leinster opted not to select their strongest side with a host of top players rested ahead of next weekend’s Investec Champions Cup semi-final against Northampton Saints, but the side which rocked up in Llanelli was formidable nonetheless.
The likes of Ireland internationals Ronan Kelleher, Ryan Baird, Ciarán Frawley, Jamie Osborne, and Cian Healey started, while veteran France international tighthead Rabah Slimani came off the bench.
To put the Scarlets’ victory into context this was just the second time Leinster have lost all season and on the other occasion they got beaten by a single point by the Bulls in Pretoria.
Inconsistency has plagued the Scarlets this season but this was their most complete performance for quite some time.
The pack was very physical, while the set-piece functioned well for the most part and the backline tore Leinster to shreds at times. Join WalesOnline Rugby’s WhatsApp Channel here to get the breaking news sent straight to your phone for free
Peel’s side reside in seventh place in the URC table and probably need just the one victory in South Africa to reach the play-offs.
The likes of Alec Hepburn, Ryan Elias, Henry Thomas, Gareth Davies, Johnny Williams, Joe Roberts, Blair Murray and Tom Rogers were outstanding, but Taine Plumtree was rightly named player of the match.
Plumtree can often be a frustrating player with his discipline letting the backrower down on a number of occasions this season and it was the main reason the 25-year-old got left out of Wales’ initial Six Nations squad.
But Plumtree is a tremendous athlete with the potential to develop into a top Test player and it all came together at Parc y Scarlets on Saturday.
Plumtree finished the game as top carrier with 14, won two turnovers and scored an interception try from halfway.
If he can maintain this level of performance, the former Junior All Black will be a serious asset for both the Scarlets and Wales.
Cardiff and Taulupe Faletau
To say the past fortnight has been a rough ride would be an understatement after the Welsh club entered administration before getting taken over by the Welsh Rugby Union.
It would have been easy to let all this negativity impact on-field performances but the players have been outstanding, beating the Ospreys at Judgement Day before taking Munster’s scalp on Friday night.
The Arms Park was rocking with a crowd of over 11,000 in attendance in what was one of the best atmosphere’s seen at a Welsh ground for a long time and the players didn’t disappoint as they put in a tremendous performance to beat Munster 20-13.
It was a significant victory for Matt Sherratt’s side who moved up to fifth in the URC table and look well-placed to reach the play-offs.
There were a number of excellent individual performances from the likes of Cam Winnett, Harri Millard, Gabriel Hamer-Webb, Johan Mulder, Liam Belcher and Thomas Young, among others.
But Taulupe Faletau was nothing short of sensational, picking up the player of the match award in a performance which included 17 carries and 20 tackles.
“He’s (Faletau) one of the best that has ever pulled on the red of Wales and he was unbelievable [against Munster],” said Sherratt.
“We saw his full repertoire against Munster, his stepping, line breaks, timing of the pass and solid in defence. It was probably his best performance in a blue and black jersey.”
At 34 Faletau might be approaching the end of his career but he evidently has still got it.
The Ospreys
Mark Jones’ side got the stuffing knocked out of them after their disappointing EPCR Challenge Cup quarter-final defeat to Lyon in Swansea.
The Ospreys had put a huge focus on potentially winning the Challenge Cup, or at least reaching the final in Cardiff, but it wasn’t to be.
There was inevitably a European hangover on Judgement Day after they were very much second best against Cardiff, and they started slowly against the Dragons.
But Mark Jones’ side quickly burst into gear to annihilate the Dragons at the Swansea.com Stadium to claim a 57-24 bonus point victory.
The Ospreys looked good once they found their feet, with the pack dominating the Dragons and this victory keeps the Welsh club’s hopes of reaching the play-off alive, although they will probably need to beat both the Sharks and the Lions in South Africa to reach the last eight.
But they do have the pack to compete in South Africa with the likes of Morgan Morse, Jac Morgan, Adam Beard and Dewi Lake excellent against the Dragons, while the half-back pairing of Kieran Hardy and Dan Edwards also enjoyed decent games.
Losers
Wales Women
A horrible campaign for Wales Women came to an end in brutal fashion as they were ruthlessly put to the sword 44-12 by Italy Women in Parma.
The WRU brought in the hugely successful Gloucester Hartpury head coach Sean Lynn before the championship kicked off but he has had little to no impact on performances as Wales finished with the wooden spoon for the second season in a row.
To their credit, they started well in Parma and led at half-time but were quite simply blown away by the ferocity of the Italian forward pack after the break. The Italians were also extremely dangerous behind the scrum as they conceded 34 unanswered points during the second-half.
Wales will have to improve significantly if they are to be competitive in the World Cup held in England later this year.
New WRU director of rugby and elite performance Dave Reddin has a huge challenge on his hands if he is to find a way of turning around Wales’ fortunes in the women’s game.
Dragons RFC
The Dragons seemed to be making progress in recent weeks, with performances getting slightly better.
They should have beaten Ulster, came close to overcoming the Scarlets on Judgement Day, while they started very well against the Ospreys.
They came out of the blocks strongly at the Swansea.com Stadium but a promising start went up in smoke as they fell to a 57-24 defeat to the Ospreys.
The Dragons pack got dismantled in brutal fashion and the hope is the new signings up-front in the form of giant second-row Levi Douglas, Seb Davies, Wales tighthead Dillon Lewis, and Cardiff’s Thomas Young, among others, can help turn the tide next season.
One comforting thought for Dragons fans is that 2025/26 surely can’t be any worse than this campaign where they have only won twice all season in both competitions. Get the latest breaking Welsh rugby news stories sent straight to your inbox with our FREE daily newsletter. Sign up here.
It’s safe to say Filo Tiatia has a monumental job on his hands in transforming the Dragons into a competitive outfit.
Joe Hawkins and Dafydd Jenkins
Both Wales internationals were part of an Exeter Chiefs side which suffered complete and utter annihilation against Gloucester at Kingsholm.
The 79-17 loss was the biggest margin of defeat Exeter have suffered in the Gallagher Premiership since getting promoted from the Championship in 2010.
Exeter were not at the races whatsoever and the gulf in physicality and class between both sides was an eye opener.
After the final whistle Exeter Chiefs chairman Tony Rowe could be seen in the changing room laying down the law to the players.
This was an extremely dark day for the former European champions.
