Let’s hope Irish domination to come on Friday night...
IT wasn’t the best start to WalesIreland week in the Six nations Championship as our regions recorded three losses and one victory in the Guinness Pro12.
And given two of those defeats were at the hands of provinces across the Irish Sea then Joe Schmidt’s men just might have an extra spring in their step for the crucial Six Nations showdown at the Principality Stadium next Friday night.
The Ospreys were the only region to avoid a Pro12 clean sweep when coming through a stiff examination of their title credentials at a wet and windy Edinburgh on Friday night.
We look at Welsh rugby’s winners and losers from the weekend ....
WINNERS
Nigel Owens There was precious little to put a smile on the face of a Welsh rugby fan at the RDS on Saturday night as the Scarlets were hammered 45-9 in the Guinness Pro12 by title-chasing Leinster .... except for the world’s greatest referee Nigel Owens stealing the show with another hilarious moment for his growing catalogue.
The record-breaking international whistle-blower kept his cards in his pocket for most of the night but in the 75th minute brandished a yellow to a ballboy at the Royal Dublin Showground for throwing a ball back onto the pitch at a Scarlets penalty... and hitting Owens straight on the head!
It proved to be a good night for the ballboy as Owens took to social media to try and track down the lad on the side of the pitch at the RDS to give him his match jersey as a memento of a match he’ll never forget.
And with the help of his Twitter followers, Owens has tracked down the ballboy and a washed referees jersey is heading back over the Irish Sea. The Ospreys defence They play a refreshing brand of rugby that’s easy on the eye.
But on Friday night in Edinburgh we saw a grittier and more durable side of the Ospreys with the best defensive performance of repelling the Scots since the construction of Hadrian’s Wall in 128 AD.
Since the arrival of defence chief Brad Davis they have rediscovered their relish for shutting out opponents and they were superb in keeping Edinburgh at bay despite the Scots having close on 70 percent of the second-half possession.
They ended up making 161 tackles which went a long way to sealing their 13-9 at Myreside as much as the dazzling break and sleight of hand from Sam Davies that put Josh Matavesi over for the decisive try. Cross Keys Having seen fellow Principality Premiership rivals Cardiff and Llanelli exit the WRU National Cup at the hands of Championship leaders Pontypool, Cross Keys were in no mood to make it a hat-trick at a muddy Pandy Park on Saturday.
It was a Gwent derby from the halcyon days with plenty of forward grunt in the stamina-sapping conditions played in front of more than 2,000 passionate fans.
Despite Pooler putting up a great fight, the hosts were just too good for them and had the edge up front.
Keys led 11-0 at half-time and with 10 minutes to go, they killed the game off when a deft chip ahead by impressive No.8