Bath’sWelsh exiles have a ball while Barnes may have to eat those words!
UNLESS you reside west of the Loughor Bridge there wasn’t much to smile about regarding the weekend’s action in the Guinness PRO14.
The Scarlets illustrated their defending champion credentials with a successful Zebre hunt in Italy to avoid a Welsh whitewash in the competition with the Dragons, Blues and Ospreys already losing.
It wasn’t so grim for our Welsh stars across the Second Severn Crossing in the Aviva Premiership with some stellar displays and one surprise outing in their match of the day for one Test prop spending much of his time out of the regional limelight at the Blues.
We give you the Welsh rugby winners and losers from the weekend .....
WINNERS
SCOTT ANDREWS You would have been given pretty hefty odds at the bookies on Andrews playing for Bath against European champions Saracens on the weekend given his last two seasons at the Cardiff Blues has seen just five starts and 22 appearances off the bench.
But he arrived at The Rec on Friday as short-term cover with Bath having a crippling injury list and 24 hours later was polishing the bench in their home match with fellow English giants Sarries.
Andrews came on for tighthead Anthony Perenise after 59 minutes with Bath leading 17-13 and helped the west country outfit pull off a famous 31-21 victory. THE OTHER BATH WELSHMEN There can be few complaints from Bath fans over the contribution of their Welsh contingent this term.
No.8 Taulupe Faletau, lock Luke Charteris and outside-half Rhys Priestland were totems at Leicester Tigers as the club pocketed their first win at Welford Road since 2003.
And on Saturday they were at it again against European champions Saracens. Priestland was immense and was in the Aviva Premiership team of the weekend as his two dropped-goals gave Bath some priceless points from their rare periods in the Sarries danger zone.
He was also assured kicking out of hand but for one lapse failing to find touch from a penalty.
He will need to be on his toes as England outside-half Freddie Burns also impressed when replacing the former Scarlets star in the second half.
Faletau was his usual self and despite being yellow carded at a collapsed maul that gave Saracens a penalty try. He more than made up for his indiscretion with a robust performance around the park while Charteris provided a towering display fitting of his huge frame before suffering a head injury tackling livewire visiting hooker Schalk Brits. RHYDYFELIN Promotion up the Welsh National League table can often resemble taking a sip from a poisoned chalice.
Though you’re climbing just one rung up the ladder, the physicality, pace and size of opposition can leave the new boys feeling they’ve bitten off far more than they can chew on.
It can often mean relegation before having a real chance to establish yourselves.
So victory for the Division One East champions in only their second game in the Championship on the weekend was commendable to say the least.
Especially coming seven days after being handed the toughest gig of them all and opening up their season at defending champions Pontypool.
Their 20-10 win over Skewen came courtesy of tries from Jordan Rees and Ross Lucas while David Gratton booted 10 points.
Fellow newcomers Trebanos could easily have joined Rhyd on the rostrum but they couldn’t follow up their opening-day victory as they were narrowly beaten 27-24 by Pooler.
Trebanos pushed them all the way with Rhys Morgan and Luke Griffiths adding to a penalty try. Griffiths then kicked seven points as the One West Central champions just fell short. GEORGE NORTH It wasn’t the best summer on the Lions front. The two-time tourist and serieswinner from 2013 only featured three times for the men in red in New Zealand, missing out on selection for the first Test defeat.
His trip then ended in heartbreak being ruled out of the remaining matches with a hamstring injury.
He missed Northampton’s 55-24 shellacking to Saracens in the Aviva Premiership, returning to action a couple of days later for the Saints’ second string against Sale Jets at Heywood Road.
But with Northampton desperate to get the Saracens defeat out of their system, he was in for the often bitter East Midlands derby with Leicester Tigers on Saturday and did his bit in the 24-11 victory at Franklin’s Gardens.
Looking refreshed and hungry for the ball, North was a constant threat with his powerful carries into enemy territory keeping the Tigers rearguard on their toes. THE SCARLETS Thank goodness for the Scarlets!
They ensured Welsh regional rugby wasn’t a total weekend write-off in the Guinness PRO14 over the weekend in northern Italy showing the grit and determination that won them the title a few short months ago.
Wayne Pivac’s side defied appalling conditions to maintain a perfect start to this season against Zebre and set up a humdinger of a match with Ulster this week.
With the rain teeming down in Parma, it appeared the west Walians would have no chance of replicating the sparkling champagne rugby they uncorked in the eight-try hammering of the Southern Kings in Llanelli a week earlier.
But they gave it a decent go, showing pace, ambition and confidence to secure