Look away now if you don’t want to know how awful Welsh teams have been in the tournaments meant to develop elite players for the future. Rob Cole asks, if the regions themselves don’t care then why should their fans?
What should we make of the fact that when you look at the Anglo-Welsh and British & Irish Cup league tables, Welsh regions prop up the majority of the pools?
Only the Ospreys, with an away win over the Blues, and the Dragons, with a home win over the Scarlets, have managed a win in two rounds of the Anglo-Welsh Cup, while the Dragons, Blues and Ospreys are all awaiting their first wins in the B&I Cup.
The sorry tale of the tape for the next generation of regional players in the two competitions reads – P23 W4. Perhaps it is just as well that the B&I Cup competition is going at the end of the season and the Anglo-Welsh might not be far behind it.
While it is difficult for the regions to match the financial power of the English clubs, even at Championship level, there is surely enough competent talent available to find teams capable of competing at a level that would make the scorelines less one-sided.
The Blues Premiership Select XV conceded 16 tries to Doncaster Knights over their two games. That’s the same Knights side, coached by former Wales defence guru Clive Griffiths, that are languishing in eighth place in the English Championship.
Yorkshire Carnegie completed the double over the Dragons, while both the Ospreys and Scarlets surrendered 10 point leads in their defeats to Nottingham and the Cornish Pirates.
Players have to have good competitions in which to develop, but the Welsh contribution to these two tournaments has been abject in recent seasons. Even so, they charge for entry yet seem to have little or no concern about the final outcome.
The frustration the fans feel is palpable. When you turn up to see your side play in a competition you expect to see a performance that matters.
The Irish A teams seem to manage and the English teams, largely second string outfits themselves, always appear to be that much stronger and better prepared. They obviously have an advantage in terms of playing together week in, week out, but don’t the majority of the regional players get enough time together in training, at their Premiership clubs and playing at Wales Under 20 level?
The review of the Principality Premiership couldn’t have come at a better time. With the B&I Cup gone, and the Anglo-Welsh on its last legs, where will the next generation earn their spurs?
An ‘A’ league would be even more soulless than the two entities we are currently struggling with. A 16-strong Premiership is a nonsense.
Some form of cross-border competition adds spice, so how about a Severn Channel league that adds Bristol, Gloucester, Bath and Exeter teams to the four Regions? That would give 14 midweek fixtures at 2nd team level and would resurrect some old rivalries.
Other options being explored are a PRO14 ‘A’ league featuring the Irish, Scottish and Welsh teams. That would involve 10 teams, but 18 fixtures on a home and away basis would probably be too many.
Throw in the 12 English Premiership clubs and there is a pool of 22 teams that could be divvied up in some meaningful fashion. There has to be a workable solution.
But whatever is worked out in the end, it must mean something to the clubs and be palatable for the fans. If it isn’t, then it will simply become another stick with which to beat the failing teams.
Pull on the shirt, play with pride and do everything in your power to win. Remember, developing a winning habit is as important as developing skills!
For the record, here are the details from the weekend’s British & Irish Cup matches:
The Scarlets PS XV lost control of an early 10 point lead against the Cornish Pirates and concede five second half tries in a disappointing 38-10 defeat that leaves them with an uphill task to qualify for the quarter-finals of the British & Irish Cup.
Having beaten the Pirates 18-10 at home a week earlier the Scarlets travelled to Mennaye Field in Penzance full of hope and got off to a flying start.
Ioan Nicholas ran in a try that Jacob Botica converted off the touchline and then the RGC 1404 outside half kicked a penalty to stun the home side. That, unfortunately, was as good as it got for the Scarlets.
No 8 Tom Duncan crashed over for a try just before the break to half the deficit and then added a second nine minutes into the second half, and a minute after Shaun Evans had been sent to the sin-bin.
There were four more tries as the Pirates got into their rhythm and Laurence May added four conversions to complete the comeback. The Pirates are now top of the pool with the same points as Ulster A, with the Scarlets four points behind in third.
The Ospreys suffered last minute heartbreak at The Gnoll as they went down to a 17-15 defeat to Nottingham thanks to a last minute penalty from Tiff Eden.
The home side lost two players, Jay Williams and Matthew Dodd, to the sin-bin in a frantic finale and that allowed the visiting outside half to step up and bag his side’s first win in the tournament.
Luke Price gave the Ospreys a handy 10-0 lead with a try, conversion and penalty. Eden kicked a penalty, but then failed to convert a try on the stroke of half-time from Dave Williams and so the home side had their noses in front 10-8 at the break.
Eden kicked his side into the lead with a second penalty early in the second half, but a neat chip from Price allowed Harri Morgan to regather and charge over to regain the lead at 15-14.
It remained tight to the finish before the Nottingham driving line-out created havoc at the end and enable Eden to step up and kick the winning penalty.
Four second half tries allowed Yorkshire Carnegie to complete the double over the Dragons PS XV, 20-17, after they had slipped to a 14-0 interval deficit on the plastic pitch at Ystrad Mynach.
The Dragons, beaten 43-22 in Yorkshire last weekend and still without a win in the British & Irish Cup this season, hit the front after only five minutes when centre Connor Edwards crossed for the opening try.
On the stroke of half-time his midfield partner, Jarryd Sage, marked his Dragons debut with a try that once again Angus O’Brien converted to give the home side a handy lead to take into the second half.
But the visitors finally got their act together after the break and used their powerful driving maul to good effect to help haul themselves back into the contest. Trystan Lloyd was the first to convert a driving line-out and then Matt Smith followed suit to cut the gap to four points.
The visitors made it three tries in 15 minutes when they finally hit the front on the hour mark when replacement scrum half Oliver Fox scored within five minutes of coming on. His try came while the Dragons were one man down following Josh Skinner’s yellow card for a high tackle.
O’Brien knocked a 66th minute penalty to restore the Dragons’ lead, but a fantastic solo try from Darren Atkins sealed the win for the visitors.
Wales Under 20 centre Harri Millard scored a hat-trick of tries for the Cardiff Blues Premiership Select XV, but it still wasn’t enough to stop his side slipping to a 42-27 defeat to Doncaster Knights at Sardis Road.
The visitors had run in 10 tries in a massive 70-12 first-leg triumph on home soil, but ran into a much more determined Blues side who took the lead with a third minute try from skipper Lewis Jones.
That was the first of five tries for the home side, with lock Callum Bradbury also getting in on the act in the first half. There was only one conversion, however, while all six of the Knights’ tries were improved by the boot of Declan Cusack.
The Knights scored three tries in each half and led 21-10 at the break. At 35-22 there seemed to be hope for Justin Burnell’s Blues side, but the Knights scored their final try in injury time to seal the deal.
