There wasn't all that much in the way of Welsh rugby action, with the entire weekend's fixtures being postponed in Wales following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
However, with rugby going ahead in England, there were some Welsh players getting a runout. With that in mind, here's this weekend's winners and losers...
Winners
Owen Williams
Remember him? Once hailed as the potential second playmaker in the Wales set-up.
It seems a while ago.
Now at Worcester Warriors, Williams may not feel like a winner after his troubled club suffered a heavy defeat on Saturday, but he will console himself that he least he’s playing again.
Rewind to the start of the Wayne Pivac era and the fly-half or inside centre was named in the matchday squad for the 2020 Six Nations game against Ireland in Dublin, only for him to suffer an injury during the warm-up.
Previously, he had shown signs of breaking through under Warren Gatland with confident appearances against Australia and New Zealand in 2017.
But bumps have followed him around, with Williams finding it hard to put a run of games together. A hamstring problem wrecked last season for him, and, prior to last weekend, he’d played just one competitive game in 2022.
But he figured off the bench for Worcester in their away clash with London Irish on Saturday. Irish won the game 45-14 against opponents who have had grave off-field issues to contend with of late, but Williams banked 45 minutes after coming on to replace Billy Searle.
He didn’t do anything flashy, but there wasn’t a great platform in place as the hosts controlled the game. There were some nice passes thrown out by Williams and some accurate kicking, but, really, it was a game to ease his way back into the big time.
He’ll improve with every outing.
For now, it was just good to see him back on the field.
Louis Rees-Zammit
Once again, Rees-Zammit scored a stunning try over in England's Gallagher Premiership.
Nothing new there. You can read all about it here.
Callum Sheedy
Bristol got their season off to a winning start, with Callum Sheedy playing a crucial role in doing so.
Notably, a smart piece of play from the fly-half helped set-up the Bears' third try. From a lineout, a goosestep from Sheedy helped him get outside Cameron Redpath before giving a pass to Charles Piutau.
The Welsh international stayed alive to the play, pushing outside Piutau - making himself ready to get the ball back from his team-mate. When he did, it was a simple matter of delivering the try-scoring pass to Luke Morahan.
Christ Tshiunza
In the unfamiliar position of openside flanker, Tshiunza put in an impressive performance for Exeter against compatriot Tommy Reffell of Leicester.
Stealing lineouts, going through grunt work and making a number of tackles, Tshiunza showed why there's a fair bit of hype around him. Injury robbed him of a proper breakout campaign in the Premiership last year, but this outing proved that, wherever he plays, he can make an impact.
As many a coach or player would say, it's the player, not the position, that matter. Tshiunza knows his strengths in that regard and a certain Lawrence Dallaglio was very impressed.
Losers
Welsh rugby
Obviously every sport was faced with a difficult decision after the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday. However, the decision to call off the whole fixture list for Welsh clubs across the weekend has come under criticism.
When other sports went ahead, paying tribute to the Queen through minute's silence and other little touches, Welsh rugby came across as trying desperately not to do the wrong thing. As such, they missed their chance to do the right thing.
It was a similar tale with the professional sides' pre-season friendlies on Friday night. At least youth rugby was allowed to go ahead, which is more than can be said for football after the FAW's blanket cancellations.
Callum Sheedy
Just moments after he put Morahan over in the corner, a brawl somehow broke out between the two sets of players.
Bath replacement hooker Niall Annett - yet to play a minute for club - was sent off for his part. However, Sheedy was also involved - being sent to the sin-bin, leaving Bristol without down to 14 for 10 minutes.
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