Here are the latest rugby headlines on Monday, April 24.
Anscombe and Lydiate leave Ospreys
Gareth Anscombe and Dan Lydiate have confirmed their time at the Ospreys has come to an end.
Both players are out of contract and pulled on the black jersey for the last time at the weekend in the 21-38 defeat to Cardiff at Judgement Day.
Lydiate, 35, has been plagued by serious injury in recent years but hinted there was more to come from him after nine years with the region.
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He wrote on Twitter: "My time as an osprey has come to an end 2014-2023 people and friendships make a place and the reason I do it all for is my crew @Nia_Kate_Lewis thanks for everyone who’s been part of my journey as an osprey still life in the old bull, great to receive my jersey from @samparry2."
Anscombe, meanwhile, posted a picture on Instagram of him receiving his framed Ospreys shirt from team-mate Alex Cuthbert with the caption "let's see what's next".
Injuries, again, curtailed Anscombe to just a handful of appearances for the Ospreys this season but there is no questioning the talent he possesses. French giants Racing 92 have been linked with his services in the past and a move abroad seems likely.
'Something not quite right' with Ospreys
Former Ospreys coach and now respected pundit Sean Holley feels there's "something not quite right" with the Swansea-based region.
Toby Booth's men ended the United Rugby Championship campaign 13th in table, ending the season with an underwhelming 38-21 defeat to Cardiff on Judgement Day.
They may have performed in Europe but in the league they have been poor, with just five wins to show for their efforts.
Speaking on Scrum V, Holley said: "It's quite painful for me and Hooky [fellow pundit James Hook], we live in the region, we speak to supporters, sponsors, they're losing them. The style of rugby and the lack of wins is a real worry, and there's something not quite right there."
While they've had some big wins in Europe, Holley says that's not their bread and butter.
"They've played well in parts, they have. The big win was Montpellier, couldn't back it up unfortunately. Europe's tough. It's not that, it's your bread and butter in the league and that table isn't lying at the moment."
Cardiff players get special send-off
Josh Turnbull was proud to see departing Cardiff players given a fitting send-off following a bonus point win over Ospreys on the final day of the season. The Judgement Day win was enough for the Blue and Blacks to clinch Heineken Champions Cup qualification for next season and lift the Welsh Shield.
Turnbull was delighted to see the game-plan come into fruition but admits it was an emotional end to the campaign.
“We had a real focus from the beginning of the week about what we wanted to go out and do on the field, in terms of the way we wanted to play. We definitely did that in the first half,” said the club captain. “We wanted to move a big, heavy pack around and we did that, and then we started to create opportunities from their errors or from transition off turnovers. That’s what we got and that’s how we capitalised.
“The words from me beforehand were about making sure we go and enjoy this occasion and give boys a good send off. I look back at someone like Rhys Priestland, who I’ve known since I was 15 or 16 , coming through the Scarlets academy together. We made our debut for Scarlets together, we made our debut for Wales together and probably didn’t think we’d end up finishing with Cardiff together.
“Jason Harries, I played in the second row with him at under-12s for Carmarthen District. It’s been one hell of a journey and seeing him sign off in the way he did, putting a performance in, is emotional.
“It’s emotional when you’ve known people like that and you’ve got close to them. You see people like Jarrod, Dillon and Max Llewellyn, boys who have come through the system. I’m probably going to forget someone and kick myself afterwards, but there’s some many players that we wanted to give them a good performance and send off.”
Peel pulls no punches after Scarlets defeat
Dwayne Peel pulled no punches after Scarlets’ disappointing Judgement Day showing on Saturday.
The west Walians were a long way short of their best at the Principality Stadium, as the Dragons claimed a 31-14 victory to sign off their BKT United Rugby Championship campaign.
Peel said: “It was a poor performance, that opening period was littered with inaccuracies and I was disappointed with the energy shown by us. We had opportunities in the second half, but our attack in their 22 was poor as well. We need to be better come Monday.”
Scarlets still have a massive European semi-final to look forward to against Glasgow on Saturday, but Peel refused to use that as an excuse for the sub-par showing in Cardiff.
“I don’t want to use that as an excuse because we need to be tougher than that mentally,” he added. “We have had consistency and steeliness over the last couple of months and we didn’t have it today. We have to look at ourselves, that goes for staff and players. If we are not better against Glasgow we are going to get hurt.
“We will need to look after the ball better, we need to be more clinical when we create opportunities, our set piece didn’t function either. We were sloppy in a lot of areas, the boys know that and are disappointed by that.
“In all aspects we need to raise standards. Don’t take anything away from Dragons, they put us under pressure and finished their chances which is credit to them. Come Monday we have to make sure we come in with a positive mindset and go up a few levels ready for a huge game.”
Wales to take momentum into Italy finale
Wales captain Hannah Jones believes her side will take their second-half momentum from the defeat to France into their Women's Six Nations finale against Italy next Saturday.
France have set up a Grand Slam decider against England in round five after holding off a Wales fightback to win 39-14 in Grenoble, with two tries coming from Wales' Georgia Evans and Gwenllian Pyrs in the second half.
Wales need a point from their final match away to Italy to secure a second straight third-placed finish, and a place in the top tier of the new global women's rugby competition WXV which kicks off later this year.
Skipper Jones said: "We started a bit slow so we can't start like that again, we came alive in the second half but we have do that from the off. Our pack worked really hard and they deserved those tries. Coming off the back of a good second half performance, we can only gain momentum going into Italy now, so we must regroup and go again next week."
Wales head coach Ioan Cunningham said: "We gave ourselves too much to do in that first half. When you come somewhere like this, if you don't start well and go two scores down it's a tough place to be. But I'm really proud of the effort in the second half, we won that 14-12, we came back really strong but there's stuff to build on for next week. Italy is going to be a tough challenge and it's all on next week for that third-spot so it's going to be a tough week."
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