-Credit: (Image: Getty Images)
European rugby kicked off for the season this weekend, with all four Welsh clubs starting their Challenge Cup campaign.
For the first time, all four are playing in the second tier of European rugby. It was a mixed weekend, with Cardiff, Dragons and Scarlets all losing to French opposition.
However, the Ospreys managed to get off to a winning start – beating the Lions 30-14 in Llanelli after Storm Darragh caused damage to the Swansea.com Stadium.
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With all that in mind, here’s the winners and losers from this weekend…
Winners
Rhys Carre
If it’s been said once, it’s been said a hundred times, but it’s hard to escape the feeling Wales could do with someone like Rhys Carre.
In recent seasons, the loosehead had a knack of scoring on European weekends, crossing for four tries for Cardiff in his last 12 outings.
However, the Arms Park side’s loss is Saracens’ gain.
The powerful prop is now forcing his way over for the Gallagher Premiership side, having got over the line as the Bulls were swept aside.
Jac Morgan
On Sunday, two punters – completely independent of one another – posed the same question on social media. Just how many Jac Morgans are on the pitch for the Ospreys?
It’s a fair question and one that is probably asked most weeks by supporters. The Ospreys haven’t enjoyed the easiest of starts to the season, but Europe brings out the best in Toby Booth’s side and that’s helped when you’ve got a captain like Morgan.
Welcoming back him, as well as Wales skipper Dewi Lake and Gareth Thomas, certainly made a difference for the Ospreys against the Lions in their Challenge Cup opener.
Last week, Lake was jokingly calling Morgan swapping the Scarlets for the Ospreys as “the best decision he ever made”. On Sunday, Morgan put in a man-of-the-match performance playing at ‘home’ at Parc y Scarlets – forcing his way over for a try and setting up another for Dan Edwards with a huge hit to dislodge the ball.
Steffan Emanuel
This summer, Cardiff made some statement signings by bringing back youngsters Tom Bowen and Steffan Emanuel to the club after both had left the pathway to spend some time in England.
Given how often young Welsh players go in the other direction, it was rightly hailed as a piece of positive news. After being forced to blood so many youngsters last year, Cardiff were understandably cautious with bringing Bowen and Emanuel into the senior set-up too soon – using Super Rygbi Cymru to get them minutes.
However, when centre Emanuel was handed his debut on the weekend – becoming Cardiff’s youngest player to feature in Europe – he certainly looked the part.
Lining up alongside the experienced head of Rey Lee-Lo, Emanuel showed up well against Lyon – playing a part in Josh Adams’ try and having time on the ball throughout.
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Ben Connor
The son of former Ospreys and Dragons fly-half Shaun, rising referee Ben Connor has already made plenty of history in his fledgling career.
Back in October, he became the youngest official to take charge of a United Rugby Championship match, when he refereed Zebre’s clash with the Lions at the age of 21.
In 2023, he became the first overseas referee since 1964 to take charge of the prestigious feature match of the famous Craven Week in the 58th edition of the event at Outeniqua Park in George, South Africa.
This weekend, again in South Africa, Connor continued his strong start in officiating – taking charge of the Cape Town Sevens Series final as the Blitzboks powered to victory on home soil.
Another impressive step in the young referee’s career.
Losers
Champions Cup discourse
Once again, the opening weekend of European competition was largely dominated by talk of how the competition isn’t what it once was.
This time around, there was the added dynamic of a new TV channel in Premier Sports – one unfamiliar with English audiences. So as well as the Champions Cup losing its sheen from the halcyon days of the Heineken Cup, there’s now the discourse of whether European rugby’s showpiece tournament even makes a sound if it’s behind yet another pay-to-view channel.
It’s all a little tiring, even if there’s some merit to the conversation. Four teams – Saracens, La Rochelle, Leinster and Toulouse – have won 10 of the last 11 Champions Cups and accounted for over half of the semi-finalists in the same timespan, so it’s fair to say it’s not the competition it once was.
The format, much-changed in recent years, is another bone of contention, too. All this discourse is unlikely to go away anytime soon.
Frustrating French defeats
It was a frustrating weekend for Welsh sides against French opposition, with Cardiff, Dragons and Scarlets all losing.
The Dragons went down 18-14 to Montpellier, with Filo Tiatia ruing missed opportunities afterwards. Then the Scarlets had victory away to Bayonne snatched from them at the death, going down 17-16.
“That’s a second week in a row that we’ve had that frustration at the end,” said Peel afterwards. “It was a huge effort and we got ourselves ahead so it’s really disappointing to give away that late penalty.
“A bonus point could be important at the end of the pool stage but we know it should have been a lot more.”
Cardiff then fell to a 37-26 defeat away to Lyon, coming back from France with a four-try bonus point. They might have come back with more, with Cardiff coach Matt Sherratt bemoaning their discipline after a fairly one-sided penalty count.
Leigh Halfpenny
Frankly, it’s a testament to Leigh Halfpenny that, after all the injuries he’s had, he’s still turning out in the Champions Cup at the age of 35.
And those at Harlequins will only speak highly of the positive influence the Wales full-back is having around the Stoop, with Marcus Smith’s goal-kicking having improved since working alongside the Test centurion.
However, not everyone is so effusive.
After Harlequins’ defeat to Racing 92, French media outlet Midi Olympique described Halfpenny as “invisible”, adding that while he “was one of the greatest full-backs in the world… But at 35, Leigh Halfpenny is obviously not anymore”.
They added: “Very slow in his transmissions, not always well placed at the back of the pitch, the Welsh international with 101 caps has completely missed this opening of the Champions Cup.”
Ouch.