If the rugby weekend was a quiet one in Wales as the campaign heads towards a close, sparks were still flying in the derby between the Dragons and Cardiff at Rodney Parade with two red cards being handed out.
There were also a couple of bright individual performances in that game, displays which might just have interested Wayne Pivac ahead of his Wales squad announcement this week.
The awards season is also starting to get into full swing, with the Ospreys holding their prize-giving night at the Brangwyn Hall in Swansea.
Read more: Rugby World Cup draw ‘horrendous’ as half the four best teams can’t make semis
Rugby correspondent Mark Orders casts an eye over the latest round of Welsh rugby winners and losers:
WINNERS
Ollie Griffiths
When Ollie Griffiths takes to the rugby field, it calls to mind the line from the late politician Roy Jenkins about carrying a Ming vase across a slippery floor. The fear is something will go wrong at any second, with significant consequences.
In Griffiths’ case it is his appalling fortune with injuries which prompts concern. Throughout his career, the back-rower has suffered one bump after another. Possibly, there would be a physio standing by if he went on A Question of Sport. When luck on the injury front was handed out on the day of his birth 27 years ago, the infant Oliver James Griffiths was near the back of the queue.
But the startling thing is when he returns from a layoff, he bangs in an eye-popping performance for the Dragons. He did it against the Ospreys the weekend before last, after he’d been out since late March with a groin problem, and he backed up that effort with an impressive display against Cardiff last Friday.
There were possession strips at important points, 15 tackles, 11 carries and physicality from Griffiths throughout. At one point his admirers might have feared the worst when he appeared to pick up another knock. Happily, he recovered to finish the game.
His durability will seemingly always be a concern but when he is fit it’s an understatement to say he is a high contributor. You can read more about Griffiths here.
One Wales cap, involving two minutes off the bench against Tonga in 2017, in no way reflects his talent. Will he be part of Wayne Pivac’s squad to tour South Africa this summer? It's hard to say, but his quality isn’t in doubt.
Morgan Morris
Talking of dynamic back-row forwards, the Ospreys’ Morgan Morris enjoyed a successful weekend as he did the double at the region’s awards night in Swansea. The 23-year-old won player of the year gongs from the Ospreys Supporters Club and the region’s sponsors, Philtronics.
Like Griffiths, Morris is able to play across the back row. Like the Dragon, he puts a stamp on every game he plays. He is physical, but he also uses a sharp rugby brain to create opportunities for others and rare is the match that passes when he doesn’t stack up big numbers in attack or defence. He also poses a threat at the breakdown, while there are few No. 8s in Wales better at converting close-range opportunities into tries, a skill which has led Ospreys head coach Toby Booth to compare him with England and Lions back-rower Sam Simmonds. Morris doesn’t seem to get injured much, either.
Wayne Pivac has overlooked him so far but the former Swansea RFC player’s consistency has been something else and he is knocking hard on the Wales coach’s door ahead of the squad announcement to tour South Africa.
Olly Cracknell
Remember him? Some casual rugby observers in Wales might not. His departure from the Ospreys last autumn didn’t exactly make banner headlines, after all. But, seven months later, his career has been completely revitalised.
A successful stint with London Irish has led to a move to England’s top club, Leicester Tigers, with Cracknell one of five signings the Gallagher Premiership leaders have announced. Tigers head coach Steve Borthwick said: “Olly is a tough, uncompromising, physical and abrasive player who can play across the back row. Each time we have spoken, I have been hugely impressed with how much he wants to be part of what we are building at Leicester Tigers. He is a competitor and we feel he is the type of player and person that we want representing Leicester Tigers.”
It’s unlikely Borthwick will be disappointed. A Wales squad member from 2017, who didn’t win a cap, Cracknell is as tough as leather and would tackle a runaway bull if he felt it would advance the cause of his team. There may be flashier back rowers on the scene, but graft matters in rugby and there are few bigger grafters than the blindside who went to play in South Africa as a youngster.
Lloyd Williams
He hasn’t played for Wales since the autumn of 2020 and there are times when he could have been forgiven for feeling forgotten. But the 32-year-old has hit a burst of form of late which has attracted much attention, with a man-of-the-match display against the Dragons his most recent strong performance.
He has vast experience, a touch of class and is supremely well-conditioned. His return to prominence ahead of Wales’ squad naming for their South Africa tour is well-deserved.
Manon Johnes
Speaking of players who could be excused for feeling forgotten in the international arena, let's turn attention to Bristol Bears flanker Manon Johnes. The 13-cap Wales back-rower featured in the Women's Six Nations squad but didn't get a look-in when it came to matchday minutes thanks to an insanely competitive back-row with Siwan Lillicrap, Sioned Harries, Alisha Butchers, Alex Callender and Bethan Lewis all vying to start.
But the 21-year-old forward has responded in perfect fashion, by showing exactly what she can do for Bristol Bears Women. She touched down late on off the bench the weekend before last to secure the bonus point needed to seal a top-four finish and a play-off spot in the Allianz Premier 15s, and was rewarded with a start in the No. 7 jersey in Saturday's regular season finale against Exeter Chiefs.
She put in a huge shift, fronted up physically against the Chiefs' pack and her workrate was excellent once again, exemplified by her huge effort to win a penalty in the second quarter to stop Exeter's break out of their 22. Named Thatchers Cider's pick of the match, Johnes is just one player who will be bidding to impress Wales head coach Ioan Cunningham and earn much-needed international game-time this summer against Canada and England ahead of the autumn's World Cup. As things stand, she's already made a strong case.
O’Connor awarded ‘biggest honour’
Maesteg RFC may inhabit the lower reaches of Welsh rugby’s league system these days but there are plenty in the Llynfi Valley who fondly remember the club’s Merit Table successes of the late 1970s.
They won titles in 1978 and 1979 and finished third in the unofficial Welsh championship in both years. Those achievements were built upon the foundation of a teak-hard pack in which John Morgan and Billy Howe were fearsome locks and Billy Pole, Brian Morris and Baden Evans were never less than top quality back-row operators, with Colin Donovan a free-scoring wing who could count himself unfortunate not to win a Wales cap.
There was also an outstanding crop of young players coming through, among them the No. 8 John Thomas, the lock David Arthur, the openside flanker Rhodri Lewis and the fly-half Gwyn Evans, with Lewis and Evans going on to play for Wales.
Leighton O’Connor emerged at the same time as well, as a quick and skilful scrum-half good enough to graduate to the ranks of Wales B. He later spent time with Newport before returning to the Old Parish, sharing scrum-half duties with Alun Davies in the 1987 team which finished third in the championship.
Now O’Connor has been made Maesteg’s honorary president, a move which has delighted him. "This is without doubt the biggest honour Maesteg RFC could bestow on me," he said on Twitter. "So very proud and privileged."
Wales internationals John Devereux, Paul Turner and Gareth Evans were among those to congratulate him, with ex-Maesteg players Jeff Bird, Paul Buckle and Alun Davies giving the move the thumbs-up as well. O’Connor, an all-round nice guy, thanked pretty much everyone who commented. We’ll call that a good way to start his new role.
LOSERS
United Rugby Championship
Ospreys head coach Toby Booth has argued that all games in the final round of the United Rugby Championship should have been scheduled to start at the same time, and it is a point which is difficult to counter.
Booth’s side and the Scarlets head into this coming weekend locked together on points in the battle to win the Welsh Shield and secure qualification for next season’s Heineken Champions Cup. The Ospreys face the Bulls in Swansea on Friday, with the Scarlets hosting the Stormers the next day, meaning they will know what they have to do.
It is a situation which any disadvantaged side would have concerns about and Booth is on record as saying: “I can’t understand why it is not [all games played at the same time]. For the integrity of the competition, surely it has to be at the same time, especially when there is something tangible on it.”
Most fair-minded people would agree.
Red card pair
It is always a fine line between being revved up for a derby encounter and lapsing into indiscipline. On Friday evening, two players fell on the wrong side of the divide.
Dragons lock Joe Davies received a red card for a dangerous hit on Rhys Carre, while Cardiff hooker Liam Belcher was dismissed after a swinging arm took out young home fly-half Will Reed. Belcher’s hit prompted much strong comment, with The Rugby Paper describing it as “one of the ugliest tackles of the year”, while WalesOnline’s Matthew Southcombe called it “disgusting”.
A low-quality game ended with Cardiff winning 19-18.
Belcher would have breathed a sigh of relief. In the modern game, with a TMO and cameras dotted around the pitch, it is borderline impossible to get away with the kind of hits the offending duo served up at Rodney Parade.
Commitment matters, but so does staying on the right side of the referee. A lesson for both Davies and Belcher to learn? That sounds about right.
