RUGBY NEWS Why former Blues star was among this weekend’s big Welsh winners
WARREN Gatland’s Wales team were the big winners on the weekend as they grabbed an historic autumn international clean sweep with their 20-11 victory over South Africa at the Principality Stadium.
But Welsh winners in Cardiff weren’t just reserved for players clad in red jerseys as we give you the Pontypool-born referee who shone in the capital.
Here’s our Welsh winners and losers from the weekend...
ALEX CUTHBERT
He showed the magical man of the Gallagher Premiership is human after all.
And in doing so, he helped his new employers extricate themselves out of a sticky patch in a big West Country derby on the weekend.
Danny Cipriani has been a central figure in helping Gloucester into the top four of the Premiership, despite being ignored by England, but it was his error that led to former Wales wing Cuthbert running over 80 metres to score three minutes into the second half.
Gloucester led 6-0 early on and trailed by just four points at half-time but the try proved to be a killer blow as the Chiefs made it eight from eight in a 23-6 victory.
Cipriani was replaced by Welshman Owen Williams seven minutes after but Gloucester coach Johan Ackermann said he should not be judged by one mistake.
“The reality is it’s nothing to do with the intercept, it was a combination of factors,” said Ackermann. “We have to start showing faith to Owen as a 10 or a 12 or wherever we need him.
“Owen has been knocking on the door for a while through the way he practised.”
As for Cuthbert, he’s now scored two tries for the English club as he finds his feet following an injurydisrupted start to life in the Premiership. Good luck to him.
LUKE PEARCE
He comes from the town which produced some of the most stellar forwards in Wales and Lions history.
But the Pontypool-born referee cites Wales outside-half Neil Jenkins as his most admired player after leaving the country at an early age for Exeter. He never forgot his roots, skippering the Welsh Exiles Under16s before going on to help Exeter College lift the 2005 Daily Mail Trophy.
If he dreamed of ever stepping out in the red jersey of Wales at the Principality Stadium, it never materialised.
But the 31-year-old didn’t have a bad consolation prize, at a time when referees are under intense scrutiny, with an eye-catching performance with the whistle in Wales-Springboks clash on the weekend.
You can see what was said in the unheard conversations picked up on the ref mic during that Wales match here.
DRAGONS
Bernard Jackman was absent from Rodney Parade after being suspended by the Welsh Rugby Union for misconduct as they posted a morale-boosting Guinness PRO14 victory over Edinburgh.
The former Ireland hooker had been hit with a four-week stadium ban, two weeks of it suspended, after publicly slamming the performance of referee Ian Davies in the wake of the Dragons’ Welsh derby defeat at home to Cardiff Blues last month.
The Dragons had entered battle with Edinburgh bottom of Conference B with just two wins in it this season, the last coming on September 22 versus Italian outfit Zebre but this success enabled them to climb above Southern Kings.
Edinburgh were without 14 front-line players because of international calls and injuries.
The Dragons didn’t fare so badly with only top prospect Aaron Wainwright, Ross Moriarty, Elliot Dee and Cory Hill of their Wales contingent missing.
But two tries from young wing Jared Rosser saw the Dragons home to a morale-boosting win.
JAMIE ROBERTS
The Wales and Lions battering ram can never be accused of holding back on the field.
His sinew-stretching charges framed a golden period of the Welsh game under Warren Gatland.
And with new employers Bath he didn’t shirk his analysis of their 16-8 Gallagher Premiership defeat at basement boys Newcastle Falcons on Friday night.
The good doctor admitted he didn’t want The Rec side to “train like Tarzan and play like Jane”.
It wasn’t a dig at his team-mates but a reflection of the standards he’s set in a stellar international career.
“Training is training,” he said. “You don’t win champagne on a Tuesday. We have to appreciate that training is a process which helps you deliver on a weekend, but it’s pointless training like Tarzan and playing like Jane.
“It’s BS. No-one cares if you train well. You get in the top four of the Premiership by delivering on a weekend.”
SWANSEA RFC
The All Whites were fancied to join west Wales rivals Neath and Llanelli through the Principality Premiership trap door just a few short weeks ago.