It was another difficult weekend for the Welsh regions as problems off the field were added to by those on it, with all four sides failing to seal all-important victories in the United Rugby Championship.
A dramatic few days of rugby saw a 13-try thriller play out in Ireland with three Welsh sides coming agonisingly close to sealing stunning comebacks in a series of enthralling contests.
There were fine individual performances too, with players returning from injury in style and forgotten Wales internationals making Warren Gatland take note after being overlooked for his Six Nations squad.
Meanwhile, Gatland's woes grow deeper with disappointing injury news ruling out one of his attacking options, while Wales Women will also be without two of its stars for their upcoming TikTok Six Nations campaign later this month.
We take a look at the winners and losers of another dramatic weekend in Welsh rugby:
Read more: Rhys Webb considers offer to leave Welsh rugby as proposed new Ospreys contract will half salary
WINNERS
Johnny Williams
The Scarlets centre made an impressive return from injury in his side's 49-42 defeat to Munster on Friday night as he looked to make up for lost time having been sidelined with a calf problem for five months.
Replacing the injured Johnny McNicholl midway through the first half, the 26-year-old wasted no time in getting back amongst it as he put on a superb display, assisting tries and making a whopping 96 metres from 14 runs. While he could not help his side to victory, he proved an integral part of Scarlets' stunning second-half comeback, with the side having been 35-7 behind at the break.
Williams had not played since the Scarlets' defeat to Benetton at the start of October.
"It has been a long, hard five months with my calf," he said. "My lungs were burning and the intensity and physicality was a big shock. I had longer than I thought I would but I’m happy that I came out the other side okay.”
The centre's impressive showing was arguably the individual Welsh performance of the weekend, with Warren Gatland sure to have made note of the star's return to fitness.
Gareth Davies
Williams' teammate was equally as impressive as he inspired Scarlets' second-half fightback having come on as a replacement shortly after half-time to help his side chase down the huge deficit.
Davies, who was overlooked for Gatland's Six Nations squad, looked to be back at his dangerous best, proving a handful for the Munster defence with his speed and creativity causing problems for them all evening.
He even managed to get on the scoresheet himself as he found himself in the right place at the right time, receiving an offload from Dan Davis to dot down under the posts to make it 49-33 with less than 10 minutes to go. It was a determined display from the 32-year-old, who has got over his Six Nations disappointment in style and thrown down a marker ahead of this year's World Cup.
Iestyn Hopkins
Two shining light in the Ospreys' narrow 21-20 defeat to Benetton were centre Keiran Williams and young Wales U20s full-back Iestyn Hopkins, who was making his first start for the region. The latter was bold, daring and brave under the high ball, attracting praise from former Wales back James Hook.
"He was brilliant," Hook told Scrum V. "It was his first start for the Ospreys and he looked so, so composed. What I'm really impressed with is his close-contact footwork. He's not a big guy, but he's powerful. Where he's really dangerous [is] from kick-receipt. Good ball control and lovely feet. This is what the paying supporter pays to watch, surely?"
Wales Women
At a time when contract issues and uncertainty in Welsh rugby are dominating the headlines, there was some positive news on Friday when the WRU announced that 25 Wales Women players have been awarded full-time professional contracts for 2023.
The union has said it is committed to creating a "world-class" international programme for women's rugby in Wales and underlined this committment by offering more than double the number of contracts it handed out in January 2022 in what was a historic move that saw a dozen players initially go pro. A squad of around 30 were full-time for the latter six months of 2022 in preparation for the World Cup.
The latest move is welcome news for Wales head coach Ioan Cunningham, who now has a full-time squad of 25 to work with ahead of the upcoming TikTok Women's Six Nations, with flanker Alex Callender, utility back Lowri Norkett and centre Megan Webb among those in the squad who have now moved to full-time deals.
With other initiatives including the new Celtic Challenge competition, as well as burgeoning U18s and U20s programmes, the contract announcements signal an exciting time for the women's game in Wales, with hopes that it will help to develop a new wave of future stars ahead of the 2025 World Cup in England.
Ioan Lloyd
The Welsh youngster helped create history at the weekend as he scored twice in Bristol Bears' record Gallagher Premiership victory over Northampton Saints. The 21-year-old came off the bench in the first half and was in electric form as his side finished the contest at Ashton Gate as 62-8 winners, their largest ever in the competition.
While man of the match Charles Piutau stole the show with a sensational performance, Lloyd was similarly impressive as he wrapped up the bonus point for his side before half-time before securing a brace after the interval.
The fly-half made his Wales debut back in 2020 under Wayne Pivac and, despite his performances for the Bears, in which he has scored seven tries so far this season, he has not featured since. But with displays like his latest, you have to wonder how much longer he can be overlooked.
Dan Lydiate
The back-rower's return from injury was one of the main positives to come from Ospreys' defeat to Benetton. The veteran Wales international was back on the field for the first time since November, when he broke his arm against Argentina during the Autumn Test series. While it was not the result he would have wished for on his return, he put in a typically solid shift as he appeared for an hour and tried to find a way to bring his side back into the game.
We look set to see more from the 35-year-old after getting some minutes in the tank, as he took to Twitter following the game to share his desire to play for a new contract at the region. "Not the result we wanted," he said. "But great to be back out there after breaking my arm in November 61 mins under the belt and looking forward to a big end of season ready to go again and chase down a contract".
LOSERS
The regions
After another unsettling week off the field, things aren't looking that much better on it for the Welsh regions with all four falling to defeat in the latest URC round.
Cardiff bid a depressing farewell to the Arms Park in their final home game of the season as they were thumped 42-20 by Ulster. While Rey Lee-Lo impressed on his 150th appearance for the club, setting up both of Owen Lane's tries, it was a weak performance from the hosts who were outperformed by the Irish side in all areas.
While scorelines elsewhere were far less damning, it took a late comeback with tries from Sam Parry and Reuben Morgan-Williams for the Ospreys to come within a point of tying with Benetton, only for fly-half Jack Walsh to miss a last-gasp conversion as he hit the post with the final kick-off the game.
The Dragons also had golden opportunities to win their game against Connacht despite losing Matthew Screech to a first-half red card, but Sam Davies failed to convert two late drop-goals as they fell to a narrow 22-20 defeat in what was also their final home game of the season.
The most courageous Welsh performance of the weekend came from the Scarlets, with Dwayne Peel's side coming from 28 points down to nearly snatch a draw in a stunning comeback, only to fall agonisingly short as their unbeaten start to 2023 came to an end.
The results leave three regions among the bottom four sides in the URC, with only Zebre below Ospreys, Scarlets and Dragons, while Cardiff also aren't exactly flying high in 10th place.
Cardiff Rugby
There are plenty of stories out there at the moment that sum up the sad state of affairs in Welsh rugby at the moment, but perhaps one of the most devastating, or at least, frustrating, is that of Jarrod Evans. The 26-year-old fly-half has been at Cardiff since he was just 14 years old, but is now set to leave at the end of the season to join Harlequins, with Cardiff unable to put forward a competitive offer due to the drastic budget cuts facing all four Welsh regions.
Evans, who has played more than 120 times for Cardiff and scored more than 750 points, has been crucial to his home region's attack this season, with former Wales international James Hook describing his exit as "devastating" for the club. With Rhys Priestland also looking likely to leave, director of rugby Dai Young has been left with a considerable gap to fill with a turn to the academy among his limited options.
While the loss is huge for Cardiff, Evans will also be turning his back on his international career if he leaves Wales as, with eight caps for his country, he would be ineligible to play for Wales under the new 25-cap selection rule.
Cardiff are also resigned to losing Wales international Willis Halaholo and prop Dmitri Arhip.
Christ Tshiunza and Dafydd Jenkins
The Wales internationals were on the wrong side of a thumping 40-5 scoreline as Exeter Chiefs were thrashed by Harlequins at Twickenham on Saturday.
Exeter could not get a hold on the game as Quins star Marcus Smith ran the show with some intelligent tactical kicking while his teammates were relentless going forward with wave after wave of attacking play. Chances were few and far between for the visitors but when they did come, they were squandered with the likes of Jack Nowell among those left frustrated.
While nobody could pin responsibility for the defeat on the Welsh pair, Tshiunza was far from his commanding best as he failed to stamp his authority on the match and could not find his way through the Quins defence, with the ball either being turned over or being bundled into touch with him as he endured a frustrating evening.
Jenkins may be considered unlucky to be on this side of the list as he put in a strong defensive display, not missing one of the 13 tackles he made, while also making 10 carries. However, with such a bruising scoreline and a defeat that sees Exeter drop to seventh in the table, neither man had their best weekend.
Alisha Butchers and Donna Rose
The Wales duo will miss out on this year's Women's Six Nations as they both continue to recover from long-term knee injuries. Butchers and Rose both damaged their ACLs at the Rugby World Cup in October and neither will be fit to join Ioan Cunningham's squad ahead of his side's first game against Ireland at Cardiff Arms Park on Saturday, March 25.
It is a big blow for Wales, with Butchers one of the best back-rowers in the game before her injury, with her relentless physicality and skilful displays making her one of the first names on the team sheet. You only need remember her all-important break to set up the match-winning try against Scotland in last year's Six Nations to know of her importance to this side.
Rose, meanwhile, emerged as something of a standout star for Wales during last year's Six Nations campaign, scoring two tries within nine minutes against Ireland.
How Cunningham will fill the gap remains to be seen, but he will at least be lifted by the potential return of second-rows Gwen Crabb and Natalia John, who are battling to be fit for this year's championship after both suffered nasty injuries in December.
Alex Cuthbert
The Wales winger has suffered another blow after being ruled out of the remaining Guinness Six Nations fixtures against Italy and France with a foot injury. The 32-year-old will play no further part in the championship, with Warren Gatland also opting not to call up a replacement ahead of the trip to Rome this weekend.
Cuthbert has not exactly set the world alight with his two performances off the bench in the defeats to Ireland and Scotland, but it is another blow to Gatland who may also be without Ospreys duo Gareth Thomas and Owen Williams who were forced off injured against Ireland, as he looks to avoid the dreaded wooden spoon.
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