Midterm report cards: Cardiff Blues, Ospreys, Scarlets and Dragons
Fans of the Ospreys and Scarlets were celebrating on Saturday night following the first inter-regional clashes of 2019.
It has been a festive period that has provided a bit of cheer for supporters of all four Welsh regions, in truth, with the Cardiff Blues claiming two victories and the Dragons finally winning a derby.
But as attention switches back to Europe, where do the Welsh sides stand going into the new year? RugbyPass takes a look at how each of the regions have fared so far this season.
Conference A
Cardiff Blues
Position: 5th
John Mulvihill’s reign in the Welsh capital got off to an inauspicious start with a narrow home defeat to Leinster followed by losses on the road to both Benetton and Zebre.
The Blues subsequently rallied, however, and went into Saturday’s clash with the Ospreys having won six of their previous nine PRO14 matches.
Defeat at the Liberty Stadium means Mulvihill’s side have lost more league matches than they have won going into the Champions Cup break, but they remain in the hunt for a play-off place.
Europe has not been a happy hunting ground for the Challenge Cup holders this term, despite an impressive away win at Lyon on the opening weekend, and Mulvihill may well choose to rotate his squad over the next fortnight.
Resting key players could be a sensible move with play-off rivals Connacht scheduled to visit the Cardiff Arms Park on January 26.
That is the start of a challenging run for the Blues, whose final eight regular season games – bar the home tie against the Southern Kings in March – are all against sides chasing a place in the play-offs.
Mulvihill would be wise to wrap Nick Williams in cotton wool. Having agreed to release Samu Manoa on compassionate grounds, and with captain Ellis Jenkins a long-term absentee, the number eight faces an intense workload.
New Year wish: Manoa had been brought in to alleviate the pressure on Williams but the USA international struggled to make an impact. His departure leaves the Blues short at the base of the scrum, where bar Seb Davies and Josh Navidi they are low on options. Mulvihill will hope to unearth another back-row star – potentially Jim Botham.
Ospreys
Position: 3rd
Ahead of the visit of the Cardiff Blues on Saturday, head coach Allen Clarke reiterated the importance of beating conference rivals as the race for the play-offs heats up.
He would have been delighted with the four points, therefore, but problems in attack remain. Ospreys dominated possession and territory in the second period at the Liberty Stadium but were unable to add to first-half tries from Scott Williams and George North.
It has been a familiar story for the region this season and one that could potentially cost them come the end of the regular season.
The Ospreys have won the same number of games as Glasgow Warriors so far this campaign, yet sit five points adrift of the Scottish side as only three of their eight victories have been earned with a bonus point.
Thankfully for the region’s fans, defence has not been an issue. Only Leinster have conceded fewer tries than the Ospreys this term and Shaun Edwards’ work with Brad Davis is clearly paying off.
Defence will be crucial if Clarke’s side are to stop a Glasgow attack that has scored 48 tries when they visit Scotstoun on January 25, to start a run of four potentially season-defining fixtures.
New Year wish: In Sam Davies, Owen Watkin, George North and Luke Morgan, the Ospreys have players that can open up defences. But they need to do so on a more consistent basis if the region is to secure a play-off place.
Conference B
Dragons
Position: 6th
It was all change at the Dragons last month as Bernard Jackman paid the price for a second season of struggle on the Rodney Parade pitch.
Chairman David Buttress had hoped to bring in an interim head coach ahead of the festive derbies but, following talks with Wales defence coach Shaun Edwards, opted instead to delay his decision and name a permanent replacement this month.
Jackman believes whoever comes in will benefit from the work he did during his 18 months in the hot seat and there have been positive signs in the last three matches.
What fans wanted most of all was to be competitive and hard to beat, and that has been the case in the recent derbies.
Under the guidance of Ceri Jones, the Dragons earned a first win over a rival region in four years with a victory against the Ospreys that was sandwiched between narrow defeats to the Cardiff Blues and Scarlets.
In those three matches the Dragons conceded 63 points, just four more than they had shipped against Leinster in what proved a damaging 59-10 home defeat on December 1.
The Dragons’ problems did not begin and end with Jackman, and talk surrounding whether the region will become a de facto development side continues to swirl.
But the performances in the derbies have given the players and coaching staff something to build on.
New Year wish: Buttress will hope to appoint a new permanent head coach this month, but more long-term concerns persist. If the Dragons are ever going to challenge on the pitch then their chairman must make good on promises to drive new revenue streams – starting with the redevelopment of the North Terrace at Rodney Parade.
Scarlets
Position: 4th
“West is Best” boasts the West Stand of the Parc y Scarlets, but that motto has rung a little hollow over the past few weeks.
Injuries have crippled the Scarlets’ season with head coach Wayne Pivac describing the current list of casualties as the worst he has faced in his 22 years as a coach.
Space in the region’s treatment room was at a premium last week with 14 players sidelined from Saturday’s clash with the Dragons.
The Scarlets have been hit particularly hard in the back-row – half of those currently working with the physio play there – and Pivac was forced to field captain Ken Owens at number eight for the final festive derby.
At a time when the region already had to deal with the loss of Tadhg Beirne, and the increased expectation that comes with reaching back-to-back PRO12/14 finals and the last four of the Champions Cup, it has not been ideal.
Victory over the Dragons on Saturday – which halted a run of five straight defeats – was therefore a timely fillip as well as a great way for Scarlets fans to start the new year.
Those supporters will have renewed hope for a play-off push, while Pivac will want to ease the injury crisis over the next fortnight with the Scarlets already eliminated from the Champions Cup.
It will not be easy, though, as the Scarlets face Leinster, Munster, Cardiff Blues and Edinburgh before the end of the regular season.
New Year wish: Not so much a wish, more a plea to the rugby gods. The Scarlets’ medical department will be working overtime between now and January 25, when the region travel to Dublin to face Leinster. They are rightly treading carefully with Leigh Halfpenny’s concussion but need the likes of Jake Ball, James Davies, Rhys Patchell and Blade Thomson back pronto.
Comments on RugbyPass
Should've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
19 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
19 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
28 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
19 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
28 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
19 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
90 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
4 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
9 Go to comments