Christmas cheers and jeers for Welsh sides

The weekend before Christmas provided contrasting fortunes for Wales' four professional sides as they returned to United Rugby Championship (URC) action.

Dragons proved the star turn as they climbed off the bottom of the table with a remarkable 48-28 victory against Connacht, ending a 15-month league winless streak.

That success ensured Ospreys have slipped to rock bottom in the table, while Scarlets triumphed in the first Welsh derby of the festive season with a 21-17 victory against Cardiff at the Arms Park.

Cardiff remain third while Dragons (14th), Scarlets (15th) and Ospreys (16th) are the bottom three sides in the table.

Next stop is the two Welsh derbies on 26 December when Cardiff first host Dragons, before Scarlets entertain Ospreys in the league's basement battle.

First though, here is the story of overdue wins, mad wedding dashes and having to cope with continued Welsh rugby uncertainty just before Christmas.

Dragons do not have an exhaustive list of glorious victories to pick from in recent times but their success against Connacht is a contender for top spot.

It was comfortably the best performance of head coach Filo Tiatia's reign and was up there with the 2022 win against Munster in Dai Flanagan's first game in charge, and the shock triumph at Scarlets under Dean Ryan earlier that year.

Dragons ended a 15-month winless streak in the URC, won successive games for the first time in more than three years - having also won in Europe the previous week - and climbed off the bottom of the table.

They scored six tries and only late Connacht scores – which earned an undeserved consolation try bonus – prevented the scoreboard revealing the true scale of the thrashing.

Dragons now head to Cardiff with Tiatia and his coaches having welcome selection headaches.

Wales number eight Aaron Wainwright was rested against Connacht and is a shoo-in but his replacement Harrison Keddie was inspirational and could be a contender at open-side at the expense of Thomas Young.

"Harri was outstanding. He came off the bench in the last couple of outings and was asking when he was going to get a start," said Tiatia.

"He took his opportunity and Waino [Wainwright] was outstanding against Lyon, so there is some good competition there."

That Dragons success means Ospreys prop up the table as Mark Jones' side suffered a miserable night in Bridgend, outmuscled and overpowered by Munster in the 26-10 defeat.

Jones has always seemed a positive man but even he sounded downbeat in his pre-match interview, as the crisis-ridden and directionless world of Welsh rugby continues into the festive period.

It comes in a week when it was announced that Wales captains Jac Morgan and Dewi Lake will leave Ospreys for Gloucester next season, while there is continued speculation about the organisation's future.

"It's always a blow when you lose your household names," said Jones.

"We have done our best to keep them financially and from an environmental point of view.

"There is so much uncertainty for everybody involved in Welsh rugby and people out of contract are considering this when making decisions."

The Welsh Rugby Union's (WRU) intention is to cut a professional side, with Ospreys players and fans concerned they are in the firing line.

Jones will refuse to let that lingering feeling explain the poor performance against Munster but events are maybe taking a toll.

"It has been a challenge for a couple of years with the budgets dropping significantly over time," said Jones.

"Players and coaches have had to recalibrate around salaries, squad sizes and even potential to win things.

"It becomes harder when you have smaller squads and lose your better players.

"It has been tough for the regions for a long time, they have done well to adjust and adapt.

"It was almost as if we were turning the corner a bit with the performances in the last couple of years. This is just another hammer blow we have to deal with."

With head coach Dwayne Peel making a swift exit after masterminding victory against Cardiff to return to his sister's wedding, it was left to Scarlets forwards coach Albert van der Berg to bask in the post-match glory.

But not without a word for Peel first as Scarlets picked up a second successive league win to lift themselves off the bottom of the table.

"Dwayne has been good for us," said Van der Berg.

"We didn't have one of the best starts in the URC but Dwayne has stuck in there and led us well.

"It's tough for him, he was driving back two and a half hours to his sister's wedding today [Friday]. I credit him for doing that, being with the team and going back for his sister."

Van der Berg praised the resilience of the Scarlets defence: "They [Cardiff] had a lot of opportunities.

"It's the most I've seen us defending as we lost the territory and possession battle.

"Credit to the boys. They stuck in and worked hard for each other."

Two Wales old-timers were at the heart of that Scarlets' victory.

Lock Jake Ball, 34, was one of the defensive heroes as he topped the tackle charts with 19 as he continues to impress on his Scarlets return

"Jake is in great shape," said Van der Berg. "He puts the hard work in and is still a master of the game."

Van der Berg believes such form could even see Wales coach Steve Tandy contemplating an international recall for Ball, who previously played Test rugby in 2021.

"He wants to knock on the door and look if there's opportunities high up for him," said Van der Berg,

"He's shown against Cardiff what he can do, so I can't see why not."

Scrum-half Gareth Davies, 35, took the plaudits with another try double at the Arms Park, including a trademark spectacular intercept try.

Davies has retired from international rugby but his player-of-the-match display against Cardiff demonstrated why he remains one of Welsh rugby's leading number nines.

"It's fantastic what he is doing out there," said Van der Berg.

"Gareth is like a good red wine. Some players as they get older, they get better.

"He showed again his experience and he's still got the speed to finish that try off."

At the other end of the scale, Wales centre Eddie James impressed in the 13 jersey.

Tandy is searching for a solution to his outside centre problem position, with Gloucester's Max Llewellyn set to miss the Six Nations because of a knee injury.

Van der Berg compared the 23-year-old James to South Africa centre Andre Esterhuizen: "He's [James] got something.

"He's got the size and everything there. He needs a bit of time and as he gets more experience, he's going to play for many years and play for Wales.

"He's a good player who can play 12 and 13. He's also got speed and the offloads are there."

Cardiff captain Liam Belcher says his side will have a honest review after yet another home defeat against Scarlets.

The Blue and Blacks dominated territory and possession with their opponents given three yellow cards.

But the hosts could only manage two tries in more than 20 visits to the Scarlets' 22, while the visitors scored three tries with limited attacking opportunities.

"That's a lesson for us," said Belcher. "We probably went too individual and that's what happens.

"We had 22 entries, they had two but they were the better team in capitalising on opportunities."

It was a first Arms Park loss for Cardiff since January as they missed an opportunity to go top of the URC table.

Belcher says players need to accept responsibility for the defeat.

"We're not happy with that," said Belcher.

"That's not what we're about. We'll have a review and it'll be a reality check.

"It has to be an honest assessment, probably more from players. The coaches have done their jobs, they put a game plan in place.

"Hopefully we can right the wrongs against the Dragons."