As Abraham Lincoln almost said, rugby selectors can please some of the people all of the time, they can please all of the people some of the time, but they can’t please all of the people all of the time.
Three wins out of four games for the Welsh professional sides on the opening weekend of the season means the job of picking a ‘best of the regions XV’ from the United Rugby Championship’s round one certainly isn’t easy.
But let’s have a crack.
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15. Johnny McNicholl (Scarlets)
Calm and composed and one of the Scarlets best players in the opening half against the Ospreys, when his team were under the cosh for long periods, McNicholl always seemed to position himself well, and ran nicely, too. Sadly for him, he didn’t appear for the second half after taking a hit from Justin Tipuric, but while he was on the field, he delivered.
14. Aled Summerhill (Cardiff)
Called into the Cardiff side late for the Arms Park date with Munster, but he was in no way unprepared for the task ahead. His try towards the end rounded off an eye-catching effort packed with enthusiasm and purpose, especially in attack.
13. Rey Lee-Lo (Cardiff)
There is no picture of Lee-Lo against the word ‘sharp’ in any dictionary, but maybe there should be. He is 35 now but can still cause problems for even the most resolute defence. Any number of quality interventions for Cardiff against Munster came from the outside centre. Owen Watkin defended well for the Ospreys.
12. Johnny Williams (Scarlets)
Terrific, and then a bit more. Williams busted tackles, played in the Ospreys’ faces, put in a number of hits himself, scored a try and was aggressive in all he did. He finished last season strongly for the west Walians and this was more of the same, maybe better. Next best at inside centre was Max Llewellyn with a performance rich in promise.
11. Josh Adams (Cardiff)
Lived two lives in one afternoon as he recovered from an error-ridden start to impose himself on the Cardiff-Munster game with strong running, determined efforts at the breakdown and a hunger for work. He’ll know there’s room to be better, but the way he battled through those early mistakes was admirable. Keelan Giles looked sharp for the Ospreys, but his yellow card shifted momentum away from his team.
10. Sam Costelow (Scarlets)
No complete Welsh fly-half performance on the opening weekend. Gareth Anscombe did start well for the Ospreys but, as the game in Llanelli swung away from them, he found it hard to maintain a telling impact. While Costelow’s display for the Scarlets wasn’t perfect, the uncapped No. 10 scored a try and his purple patch in the second half won him the official man-of-the-match award. Give him the place, then.
9. Kieran Hardy (Scarlets)
Appeared for the second half in Llanelli and it seemed as if the Scarlets had had a sugar rush. Without doing anything magical, Hardy helped them pick up their performance level by injecting a snap and crispness into proceedings.
1. Nicky Smith (Ospreys)
He did drop his defensive guard at one point as Johnny Williams sped past, but two other Ospreys players were guilty of the same offence as the Scarlets man powered through. Smith otherwise had a strong game, applying pressure at scrum-time and displaying a big workrate around the field.
2. Kristian Dacey (Cardiff)
Both the Ospreys hookers were good — Scott Baldwin as a starter, with three possession steals among his highlights, and Dewi Lake off the bench, with two turnovers and some powerful carrying. But maybe we should look to ex-Wales No. 2 Dacey, who scored a try and was so ubiquitous for Cardiff against Munster it appeared he had sneaked a twin brother onto the field.
3. Tomas Francis (Ospreys)
Nothing in it here between Francis and Dillon Lewis.
Cardiff’s scrum has been a concern in the past — some would put it in stronger terms — but it held up against Munster and Lewis showed up well in the loose, pulling one turnover out of the bag that a high-class openside flanker would have been pleased to put his name to. But the Ospreys were on top at the scrums when Francis was on the field and their tighthead played a key role in that. He gets the vote, then — just.
4. Seb Davies (Cardiff)
Dropped by Wales for their summer tour, but this was an effective exercise in bouncebackabillity from Davies, who has ball skills not many other second rows in the country possess, while he is athletic as well. Against Munster, he also fronted up, an absolute necessity for a game with the Irish province.
5. Sam Lousi (Scarlets)
One of the players of the season in Welsh rugby last term, he began this one with intent, too, as he helped drive his side’s second-half revival. He has the build of a basketball player and the handling skills to match, but he is also tough and unafraid to mix it. For the Scarlets, he is worth his weight in gold.
6. Jac Morgan (Ospreys)
It could easily have been Blade Thomson taking the shirt here after a strong second half for the Scarlets. Nor would it have been unreasonable to have opted for James Botham, who started the campaign strongly for Cardiff. But Jac Morgan didn't stop working for the Ospreys. When they were on top in Llanelli he was to the fore, slowing down ball at the breakdown, tackling and making determined carries, and when the tide turned he fronted up as purposefully well as anyone, with one tackle on Johnny Williams involving immense bravery.
7. Justin Tipuric (Ospreys)
A normal player who's been out of competitive rugby for 15 months usually needs a handful of games to get back up to speed. But there is little ordinary about Justin Tipuric. He always seemed in the right place at the right time against the Scarlets, anticipating what would happen before anyone else, and making effective interventions, including two turnovers. You can read about the man with the blue hat here.
Thomas Young also caught the eye with a lively effort for Cardiff, while Josh Macleod showed up well off the bench in the west Wales derby.
8. Taulupe Faletau (Cardiff)
Player of the weekend.
By some distance.
Plenty of his Cardiff team-mates played well against Munster, but the new No. 8 in their ranks was on a different level. There didn’t seem a skill he was not on top of at the Arms Park, nor a blade of grass that he did not cover. We’ll call his effort ‘monumental’ and be done with it.
A big nod to Sione Kalamafoni, who played wonderfully well for the Scarlets, while Ross Moriarty, with 20 tackles, shone in adversity for the Dragons.
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