Here are your rugby morning headlines on Sunday April 10.
Pivac facing more Wales woe
Wales boss Wayne Pivac is sweating on the fitness of two more players for the summer tour to South Africa after Lions prop Wyn Jones and back three star Johnny McNicholl limped out of Welsh derby action.
The duo were forced from the field with knee injuries as the Scarlets beat Cardiff at the Arms Park. The extent of the problems will be assessed in the coming days, with Jones in clear discomfort and requiring a scan.
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"It will be wait and see with those two," said Scarlets boss Dwayne Peel. "Wyn was in pain and we get him scanned early in the week and hope it is not too bad."
Pivac will be an interested observer as he continues to plan his squad for the daunting three-Test showdown with the world champion Springboks in June and July. The Wales boss is already concerned about the fitness of star wing Josh Adams, who might not play again for Cardiff this season with a knee issue of his own.
Veterans Ken Owens and Leigh Halfpenny have definitely been ruled out, but Pivac is hopeful Ross Moriarty will be okay after his own recent injury scare. It was feared Moriarty would be sidelined for some time, but those concerns appear to have been eased by the Dragons. Moriarty's abrasive approach will be required by Pivac as his side take on the power packed world champions.
Peel's parting message for Liam
Dwayne Peel revealed he told Liam Williams to finish his Scarlets career in style ahead of his two-try show against future team Cardiff at the Arms Park.
Ironically, Williams' efforts put a dent in hopes of playing European Champions Cup rugby with Cardiff next season after the Scarlets' 49-14 win kept them in pole position to qualify via the Welsh Shield. That is the competition within the United Rugby Championship which sees which the top-performing Welsh region land a ticket for top-tier European rugby.
Cardiff needed to win to claw back the Scarlets' lead at the top of that mini-league, but they were destroyed as the west Walians ran in an unanswered 49 points after falling 14 points behind early on. Scarlets have moved up to ninth in the URC table after a third successive bonus-point win and will be looking to finish in the top eight anyway, as well as being the best placed Welsh region.
Scarlets boss Peel said of Lions and Wales full-back Williams: "He was back in this week because I thought the game suited him. We just spoke about how important it is for him to finish his Scarlets career in the manner he has always played.
"He's a tough cookie, he's got great skills but what people will remember about him is that he's a fantastic player, but he's got an edge about him. I think we saw that edge today and that's what I want to see from him."
It was a rare regional appearance for Williams, for differing reasons only his seventh over the last two seasons. But he will be hoping to build on it before moving to the Arms Park as the Scarlets round off their regular season with three more Welsh derbies, two against the Dragons and one versus Ospreys, and a final home match with the Stormers.
Young - I can't fault effort
Cardiff boss David Young said he couldn't fault the efforts of his players despite their second successive hammering at the hands of the Scarlets.
Young had ripped up his team after last week's defeat in Llanelli and warned his players they were playing for their futures after what he dubbed an unacceptable performance. Cardiff started the return game brightly enough before completely capitulating in the second half as they conceded 49 unanswered points to lose 49-14
However, Young said afterwards: "Last week, we lacked energy, determination and desire. Any team I'm involved in, I expect that. It's a gimme. Going away from last week's game there were a lot of doubts - how many players wanted to play for the jersey?
"I don't think that can be chucked at us this afternoon. The guys gave everything on the day but it wasn't good enough."
He explained: "Our set piece creaked, once that started we gave away penalties, that gave them field position and momentum. Then we gave more penalties away. Second half we had something like 30 per cent possession and 25 per cent territory.
"You're always going to struggle to get in the game. Anything that could go wrong, did go wrong. It's never nice but we've just got to take it on the chin. At the end of the day they were too physical for us up front in the second half and we couldn't match it.
"Once any team gets their tail up it's very difficult to turn it around. As I said to the players, we've just got to man up, come back on Monday and go again."
Cardiff face daunting Sarries challenge
Cardiff have learned they will meet star-studded Saracens this coming weekend in the last 16 of the European Challenge Cup.
The make-up of the draw was determined after the weekend Euro action and pitches David Young's side against Maro Itoje and Co. The winner of the game will meet either Gloucester or Northampton in the quarter-finals.
Dragons edged out
Dean Ryan's Dragons let Gloucester snatch victory in their final Challenge Cup pool clash at Rodney Parade.
The 26-21 defeat means the Gwent side took their winless run to 12 - indeed their solitary victory this season was back in October away to Connacht.
A second victory looked on the cards after a promising first-half that sent them into a nine point lead, before a scoreless second-half and a hat-trick of tries for Gloucester hooker Santiago Socino meant their wait for victory goes on.
