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<\/p>\nIt was another enthralling weekend of European rugby with Welsh rugby fans experiencing highs and lows<\/p>\n
09:34, 06 Apr 2026Updated 11:12, 06 Apr 2026<\/p>\n
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Jacob Beetham of Cardiff scores a try(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n
It was another enthralling weekend for Welsh rugby fans, full of highs, lows and frustration.<\/p>\n
The Dragons were the story of the weekend as Filo Tiatia’s side claimed a remarkable victory in Paris over French giants Stade Francais to reach the quarter-finals of the EPCR Challenge Cup.<\/p>\n
But there was heartbreak for both Cardiff<\/a> and the Ospreys<\/a>, who slipped to narrow defeats to Benetton and Ulster respectively.<\/p>\n Here are your winners and losers after an exciting weekend of rugby.<\/p>\n Winners<\/p>\n Filo Tiatia and the Dragons<\/p>\n Historically, the Dragons have been the poor relations to the other three Welsh sides, but they have begun to buck that trend and are on an upward trajectory.<\/p>\n Tiatia has undoubtedly improved this Dragons side, which now has a far stronger backbone and is a tougher side to beat.<\/p>\n This famous victory over Stade Francais in Paris was arguably the best Dragons performance in a decade.<\/p>\n The Welsh club was strong at the set-piece, physically imposing and fired plenty of shots.<\/p>\n What will please Tiatia the most is how they soaked up pressure and bounced back after going behind in the game.<\/p>\n This side never stopped believing they could win and this could be a stepping stone to greater things.<\/p>\n JOIN OUR WALES RUGBY FACEBOOK PAGE Latest news, analysis and much more<\/a><\/p>\n Aaron Wainwright<\/p>\n The Dragons were excellent to a man, but Wainwright was totemic.<\/p>\n If the British & Irish Lions were touring this summer, Wainwright would be a nailed-on tourist and a strong contender for the Test side.<\/p>\n The Wales star is going from strength to strength and was the key player for the Dragons in Paris.<\/p>\n Wainwright made 16 carries and 13 tackles, helping the Dragons get on the front foot.<\/p>\n His back-row colleagues Ryan Woodman and Thomas Young were also very good against Top 14 high-flyers Stade Francais, but Wainwright was sensational.<\/p>\n Chris Coleman<\/p>\n The Dragons front five were all outstanding, with the likes of Rodrigo Martinez, Brodie Coghlan and Ben Carter, along with replacements Elliot Dee and Wyn Jones, putting in top-class performances.<\/p>\n But a special mention has to go to Coleman, who did a sterling job anchoring the Dragons scrum.<\/p>\n Stade Francais have a reputation as a ferocious scrummaging unit, but Coleman more than held his own at scrum time. The 27-year-old also made 14 tackles.<\/p>\n Tighthead prop has been an area of weakness for Wales for the last few years, but the position is looking a little healthier lately. If Coleman can build on this performance, he can put himself back into contention to make Steve Tandy’s squad.<\/p>\n An honourable mention also has to go to loosehead Martinez, who finished as the game’s top tackler with a remarkable 21 tackles.<\/p>\n Jacob Beetham and Mason Grady<\/p>\n Beetham has long been a player touted for a big future in the international game, but a series of injuries, coupled with the 24-year-old being moved around the backline, has stunted his progress.<\/p>\n But he had a fine game in Cardiff’s narrow 38-35 defeat to Benetton in the Challenge Cup.<\/p>\n Beetham was very strong under the high ball, while he also looked a threat with ball in hand and claimed two tries.<\/p>\n Grady was also extremely prominent, with the Wales wing using his explosive power to get over the gain-line on a number of occasions.<\/p>\n The 24-year-old could be a huge asset to Wales if used correctly.<\/p>\n Reuben Morgan-Williams and Kieran Hardy<\/p>\n Both Ospreys scrum-halves made a big impact in Belfast on Saturday night.<\/p>\n Morgan-Williams got the nod to start and was excellent.<\/p>\n The 28-year-old was a constant threat with ball in hand, scoring his side’s first try.<\/p>\n Hardy also made an impact from the replacements bench and was cruelly denied what would have been a sensational try to win the game when the TMO called a dubious forward pass in the build-up.<\/p>\n Losers<\/p>\n Archie Griffin<\/p>\n The Wales tighthead was given a torrid time at the scrum by his Wales team-mate Rhys Carr\u00e9 as Bath edged out Saracens 31-22 in a hard-fought Champions Cup round-of-16 clash at the Rec.<\/p>\n Griffin coughed up a number of scrum penalties and was driven backwards at a rate of knots by Wales loosehead Carr\u00e9.<\/p>\n The 24-year-old’s inability to lock down the scrum became a big problem as Bath trailed 10-0 at the break.<\/p>\n Bath head of rugby Johann van Graan had no choice but to replace Griffin with world-class Springboks star Thomas du Toit, which changed the course of the game.<\/p>\n Officials<\/p>\n The officials in both the Benetton v Cardiff and Ulster v Ospreys games have received some vitriolic criticism on social media.<\/p>\n Cardiff’s players were incensed with referee Kevin Bralley because they thought Evan Lloyd had crossed the line for what would have been a match-winning try.<\/p>\n With Cardiff camped on the Benetton try-line, they crossed the line twice only for the ball to get turned over, but Cardiff were adamant Lloyd had scored in one of those surges.<\/p>\n After the hosts had worked their way up the other end, Cardiff captain Ben Thomas could be seen arguing with Bralley and was eventually penalised.<\/p>\n Over in Belfast, the Ospreys’ Challenge Cup hopes were extinguished when Kieran Hardy’s try three minutes from time was disallowed for a forward pass in the build-up.<\/p>\n After initially awarding the try, referee Anthony Woodthorpe went to the TMO, who ruled Watkin’s pass had gone forward.<\/p>\n Pundits and supporters all felt the Ospreys were hard done by and the officials have taken a hammering on social media as a result.<\/p>\n Louis Rees-Zammit<\/p>\n The Wales star was part of a Bristol Bears side who were ruthlessly put to the sword 59-26 by Toulouse in the Champions Cup.<\/p>\n Bristol were taken to the cleaners up front and were outclassed out wide as the French champions ran riot on their home patch.<\/p>\n It was a difficult day at the office for Rees-Zammit, who was forced to operate on the back foot behind a Bristol pack that took a savage beating.<\/p>\n Follow all of our channels to ensure you stay up to date with the latest Welsh rugby news. Sign up to our free daily newsletter here<\/a> and our WhatsApp channel here<\/a> for all the breaking news.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was another enthralling weekend of European rugby with Welsh rugby fans experiencing highs and lows 09:34, 06…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":515845,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[10579,26923,26771,5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-515844","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-cardiff-rugby","9":"tag-dragons","10":"tag-ospreys","11":"tag-rugby","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom","15":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=515844"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515844\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/515845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=515844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=515844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=515844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}