Crashing out of Europe: so what’s going wrong as our regions hit a new low?
THE Welsh regions created an unwanted record over the weekend, with all four losing in the same round for the second time this season.
Never before in the regional era have two barren weekends unfolded for Welsh sides in Europe in the same pool-stage campaign.
Is it simply down to under-performing players and coaches?
Or is the root of the problem the lack of resources at the four professional teams compared to many of their rivals?
Whatever, the bleak weekend underlines these are challenging times for the Ospreys, Scarlets, Cardiff Blues and the Dragons.
assesses the state of each region ahead of the Christmas derbies...
MARK ORDERS HOW THEY FARED OVER THE WEEKEND
They lost 12-3 to Stade Francais in a Challenge Cup encounter in Paris. A much-changed side succeeded in denying the French a try but couldn’t cross the whitewash themselves and missed a chance to pocket a losing bonus point when a late penalty attempt flew wide.
It was Stade’s first win in the group and wings Waisea Nayacelevu and Lester Etien and centre Julien Delbois each beat eight defenders. Ospreys coach Allen Clarke had taken the field with 12 of the players who started in the 52-7 hiding against Leinster in Dublin last month and said he was proud of the effort at Stade Jean-bouin. But Worcester Warriors picked up a bonus-point win over Stade on the road earlier in the pool, albeit that the French had Nicolas Sanchez and Yoann Maestri back as starters against the Ospreys.
EUROPEAN PROSPECTS FOR THE SEASON
Victory over Stade in round four would have made them red-hot favourites to top their Challenge Cup pool, but it didn’t happen and so the Ospreys have work to do. They need to beat Worcester in Swansea in the next round of matches and are likely to need to back it up with a win in Pau.
If they don’t qualify for the knockout stages as a group winner, they could still go through as one of the three best-placed runners up, though others are also well placed to strike for such status.
Given their selections for the away game, the Challenge Cup doesn’t seem a priority for the Ospreys this season. But they are still in the mix.
WHAT ABOUT THE GUINNESS PRO14?
They have blown hot and cold, banking a number of emphatic victories but suffering heavy setbacks with under-strength sides at the hands of Munster and Leinster, while Glasgow Warriors won comfortably in Swansea.
Allen Clarke’s team look handily placed to challenge for third spot in Conference A and so qualify for the knockout stage.
But their depth is an issue and they will need to dig deep for challenging games against Glasgow (a), Ulster (h) Munster (h) and Connacht (a) when their leading players are away with Wales for the Six Nations.
QUESTION TO BE ANSWERED
Are they right to rest key players en bloc for certain games?
The closeness of the scoreline in Paris over the weekend suggests the Ospreys would have won with something to spare had they turned up with a full-strength team.
And the thrashings in Munster and Leinster were embarrassing.
Allen Clarke is targeting matches and doing what he can to promote player welfare, and it needs to be said the Ospreys’ injury list does seem to have reduced.
But the on-pitch results have been mixed.
They appear to be following the Leinster model of team selection without the depth of the Irish province. If their side finish in the top three in the league, the selectors may feel vindicated. But some will still argue over the strategy.
HOW THEY FARED OVER THE WEEKEND
Wayne Pivac’s side are going through a difficult time, beset by injuries to key players, and were on the wrong end of a 30-15 Champions Cup scoreline against Ulster in Belfast. They were second best in most areas against opponents still very much in the hunt for a quarter-final place.
If Wyn Jones’s yellow card was debatable, the Scarlets couldn’t have any serious complaints about the result. Ulster dominated the collisions, had a superb forward in Iain Henderson and half-backs in John Cooney and Billy Burns who exploited the Welsh team’s inability to catch high kicks by raining a succession of bombs down on them.
They were good value for their bonus-point success.
EUROPEAN PROSPECTS FOR THE SEASON
Sadly for last term’s Champions Cup semi-finalists, they have exited the picture early this time.
They knew they were pretty much out even before the Ulster game. Another loss, the region’s fourth in Europe this term, confirmed their fate.
It is one thing to apply sticking plasters for injuries and player departures in the Guinness PRO14.
But in top-tier European rugby a side needs to be operating on full power to prosper. That hasn’t been the case for the Scarlets in the Champions Cup this time.
WHAT ABOUT THE GUINNESS PRO14?
It’s all about the league from here on in for the Scarlets.
Wayne Pivac said earlier in the campaign he wanted a strong finish to his time in Llanelli and so he will be targeting a place in the knockout stages and more.
The New Zealander has also admitted that because of injuries and player departures, he is essentially operating with a different group, saying: “We’ve been depowered and are not the side of last year.”
His challenge is to engineer a bounce back after the disappointment of Europe.
The Scarlets could do with Leigh Halfpenny, James Davies and Rob Evans coming back to fitness in the short term.
They are still well placed in Conference B, lying second, but it could be a battle to see who accompanies Leinster into the knockout stage, with Ulster, Edinburgh and Benetton also in the mix.
Pivac’s side still have to visit the Ospreys, Leinster and Cardiff Blues, but it is too soon for anyone to write them off.
QUESTION TO BE ANSWERED
Can Wayne Pivac turn it around in Llanelli?
He will be desperate to do so, having enjoyed considerable success in the previous two years.
It has been the season from hell for the Scarlets in many ways, with ruinous injury problems, but Pivac and Stephen Jones are still quality coaches and it will be fascinating to see how they respond.
HOW THEY FARED OVER THE WEEKEND
They lost 26-14 at home to Saracens in the Heineken Champions Cup. The match was there to be won when they trailed by only two points midway through the second half with the visitors a man down to a sin-binning.
But Saracens slowed the game down over the next 10 minutes, offering a lesson in how a side should play a yellow card as countless scrums and stoppages unfolded.
Owen Farrell even kicked a penalty before the Londoners were back to full strength.
It was quite something to behold, with experience and leadership to the fore, an example of how to win a tricky European tie.