Top form... northWales sad Saturday for Ospreys
JOSH ADAMS He may have been unable to secure a regional contract but Adams has shown the Welsh professional teams what they have been missing with a string of stand-out performances in the Aviva Premiership.
When the youngster’s academy deal with the Scarlets ran out in 2015, no team this side of the Severn Bridge moved to snap him up.
Instead, the former Wales Under-20s wing, who scored four tries in five games at the junior World Championship in 2015, joined Worcester Warriors and hasn’t looked back. Adams has made more appearances this season than anyone else at the club - 20and has scored 10 tries, two of which came against Bristol in the Anglo-Welsh Cup, helping him make that competition’s breakthrough player award shortlist.
And on the weekend he all but sealed Worcester’s place in the Aviva Premiership next season with two tries against Dai Young’s high-flying Wasps.
It may have been in a lost cause as Worcester were beaten 40-33 at the Ricoh Arena, but the Warriors bagged two bonus points in the process to leave relegation rivals Bristol needing a miracle of miracles to stay up. CERI SWEENEY The Pontypridd warhorse with 35 Welsh caps and 37 years under his belt is showing no signs of letting up being the key man on the Sardis Road side making the finals of the WRU National Cup at the expense of Cross Keys at the Talbot Athletic Ground, Aberavon on Saturday.
Sweeney crossed for a touchdown and added 17 points with the boot to finally fend off a valiant late rally from the Pandy Park side that yielded three tries in seven minutes. His late penalty saw Ponty win a thriller 42-37 to set up a Principality Stadium final with RGC in a little under three weeks time. TOMOS WILLIAMS The scrum-half bagged two tries in an encouraging Blues performance at the Royal Dublin Showground on Saturday to suggest he has more to offer the region than just a bit-part contribution.
Williams’ service was good all game, often under difficult circumstances, and he also showed he has a good eye for a gap in the agonising 22-21 defeat. But what impressed you most was his poacher’s instinct and the way he got on the shoulders of Blues runners for his two scores. SHANE WILLIAMS It was a bitter-sweet weekend for the Welsh wing wizard.
Shane hopes to still realise his dream of making a farewell appearance at the Principality Stadium despite picking up a hairline fracture of the jaw while helping Amman United to victory in their Welsh Rugby Union National Bowl semi-final against Cardigan.
The 40-year-old faces a race to be fit for the final against Caerphilly on April 16. However, the injury isn’t thought to be considered especially bad and he is optimistic he will be fit to return to play at scene of some of his finest moments as a professional rugby star.
Williams said: “It’s something I could have done without but it’s happened and you just have to deal with it.”
LOSERS
PONTYPOOL A first mention is this column for the former giants of the Welsh game largely because they’ve been beating all before them in the Championship this season.
And it would have looked business as usual as they made their way down the A48(M) on Saturday to Cardiff Met with the students hardly pulling up any trees down at Cyncoed.
But the Met pulled off something no other Championship side have done in 18 encounters with Pooler and won 30-22.
Pontypool, though still hold a 12-point lead at the top of the table and can seal the title with victory over Glamorgan Wanderers next weekend. LUKE CHARTERIS AND TAULUPE FALETAU It’s fair to say to Welsh duo have hardly made a splash in Bath this season after joining the west country outfit from Racing 92 and the Newport Gwent Dragons.
Both have been hampered by injuries which not only meant a stop-start season at the The Rec but with Wales in the Six Nations Championship this term.
Though the only injuries Charteris and Faletau sustained on the weekend was to their pride as Bath suffered their heaviest Premiership defeat in 15 years when being hammered 53-10 at Saracens.
For Faletau it was perhaps even a bit more painful as his cousins Mako and Billy Vunipola lined up for the home side at Allianz Park. To make matters worse the game was refereed by Wayne Barnes. You’d have thought the Welsh lads had seen enough of the Gloucestershire whistleblower - all 100-minutes of him at the Stade de France the previous weekend. THE OSPREYS What went wrong with the Ospreys out in Treviso as the Italians pulled off a shock 13-5 Pro12 victory?
Just about everything and the Pro12 strugglers partied like it was 1999 at the at the Stadio Monigo.
The warning bells were ringing inside the third minute when wing Angelo Esposito ran all over Dafydd Howells and full-back David Odiete spilled the ball in the act of scoring. From then on, the Italians had the wind in their sails, dominating territory and possession and enjoying an edge at the set-piece.
They were also given a helping hand to the winning post by a catalogue of Ospreys handling errors.