Tattoos, the ref keg and mixed
IT was another full-on weekend of Welsh rugby which threw up some heroic performances and some less so impressive.
For the regions it was a 50 per cent success rate, but perhaps not as many would have predicted beforehand with the Ospreys’ wretched run continuing in Italy and the Dragons coming a cropper with a shadow first team against Ulster.
The Blues broke their PRO14 duck while the Scarlets dispatched Edinburgh in routine fashion in west Wales.
We look at Welsh rugby’s winners and losers from the weekend...
WINNERS
DAMIEN HUDD One of rugby’s most tattooed players could well be heading towards another decoration next summer, such is the impact the former Ebbw Vale skipper is having on hometown club Brynmawr as their player, coach and captain.
He spent a record seven seasons at Eugene Cross Park with the highlight being lifting the Principality Premiership crown in 2016. The former Wales Under-19 skipper also guided the Gwent outfit to the National Championship title in 2013 and 2014.
Now it seems he’s working his magic at Brynmawr with the team joint top of Division One East alongside Andy Powell’s Brecon with a maximum 20-point haul from four games. JULIAN SMITH Who, you may well ask? This guy was tasked with refereeing the first ever meeting between Hartridge and Pill Harriers in Division Two East.
Two sides from the less affluent areas of Newport with former reputations of liking the physical nature of the oval-ball game. This perhaps wasn’t in Phil Steele’s Good Feud Guide on Scrum V on the weekend as it had the makings of a three star Michelin showdown.
A sizeable crowd were at Llanwern High School and even the police turned up to take it all in.
But those expecting to see a few knuckle sandwiches dished out left hungry, thanks to some stellar refereeing from the aforementioned Smith who communicated brilliantly with the players from the very start and set his stall out early.
It turned out to be remembered for all the right reasons in a rugby fest that saw Hartridge run out 32-24 winners. JARROD EVANS The Blues certainly needed someone to kick-start their season.
And what a kick it was as the super-sub No.10 executed an astonishing ‘banana’ conversion of Willis Halaholo’s second try that enabled Danny Wilson’s men to end their Guinness PRO14 drought in Galway against Connacht. Evans got his calculations spot-on, aiming to the left of the far upright and bargaining on the gale blowing the ball back towards the target to seal a vital 17-15 victory.
Right up there and deserving of a mention in despatches was the tackle machine that is Josh Navidi who put in a stamina-sapping 28 hits in a heroic rearguard action. LIAM WILLIAMS The Wales and Lions full-back is now officially up and running at new employers Saracens after marking his home debut at Allianz Park with a try.
It may have been a simple catch and canter over from a couple of yards out but for Williams it probably meant the world as he helped provide some crumbs of comfort to the European champions after the devastating news herculean No.8 Billy Vunipola faces four months on the sidelines with a recurring knee injury. MERTHYR Former Ospreys and Dragons backrower Joe Bearman could easily have seen his move to The Wern from the Liberty Stadium as one step closer to rugby’s retirement home with pipe and slippers at the ready. But the man hewn from Newquay rock in Cornwall, isn’t made that way and provided a Principality Premiership masterclass against Newport to help dig the Ironmen out of a rut that has seen the defending champions go three games without a win. JORDAN WILLIAMS The former Wales Sevens and Under-20s star has seemingly dropped off the international radar since making the move from the Scarlets to Bristol in 2016.
He was probably even worrying for his