Where Welsh sides stand after late drama in URC

Dramatic conclusions and near misses were the underlying theme for the four Welsh sides in the last round of the United Rugby Championship (URC).

Following the news that Cardiff, Scarlets, Dragons and Ospreys will still exist until at least the summer of 2028, the four sides returned to the pitch with mixed results.

Just two days after it emerged Cardiff and Ospreys will not have the same owners, the two sides locked horns at the Arms Park in which the play-off chasing hosts held off a late fightback by the visitors.

Dragons warmed up for a European semi-final by defeating Zebre in Parma with a last-gasp try, but Scarlets were again on the wrong end of a late defeat at home, this time by Bulls.

BBC Sport Wales looks at the talking points from round 16 of the URC.

Cardiff have moved one step closer to finishing in the top eight and reaching the URC play-offs courtesy of the 24-21 win against Ospreys.

It was a 10th league victory in 16 games for the Blue and Blacks, who have enjoyed back-to-back derby successes against Scarlets and Ospreys.

This is despite a notable injury list which includes Wales duo Josh Adams and James Botham, while Alex Mann was a late withdrawal on Friday.

Head coach Corniel van Zyl insists his side still have plenty of work to do as they lie sixth going into the final two games of the season.

With only nine sides now able to qualify, Cardiff are six points clear of ninth-placed Connacht but have two difficult fixtures to come, at Glasgow and home against the Stormers.

"Hopefully we will get a few players back now," said Van Zyl. "The next game is the most important.

“Glasgow are a quality team, but we will go there and give it a good shot.”

Reflecting on last season when Cardiff just missed out on the play-offs, V-*an Zyl said: "It was almost like we were chasing from behind and trying to get in there.

"This season we made it a point to focus more on week to week, trying to get points where we can."

With Cardiff missing star men, they were indebted to the likes of player-of-the-match Dan Thomas, Rory Thornton and Alun Lawrence against Ospreys.

“They've been around the block and it's an honour to have those experienced players,” said van Zyl.

"Dan is always good and Rory did a great job with set-pieces, especially line-outs, where we struggled last week.

"Alun is a machine. He keeps on going and is the glue in our team. He's consistently putting out very good performances, which is remarkable.“

Both sides were ill-disciplined at the Arms Park with four yellow cards between them.

Fly-half Dan Edwards and centre Owen Watkin were the guilty Ospreys men, while Cardiff captain Liam Belcher and lock Josh McNally were also sent to the sin-bin.

The defining transgression was the 20-minute red card for Ospreys wing Daniel Kasende for throwing his forearm into the face of Cardiff fly-half Callum Sheedy.

Kasende's first-half offence was rare because it occurred when he was in possession of the ball.

Ospreys head coach Mark Jones believes Kasende could have been given the same punishment as Belcher, whose early yellow card which was for a head-on-head collision with number eight Morgan Morris.

“They [match officials] thought his [Kasende] offence was worthy of a red for 20 minutes,” said Jones.

“I'm not adept with the criteria of these things, but I look at the force of the forearm compared to two heads coming together and one looks like it could do more damage than the other.

“I was surprised perhaps they weren't treated the same, but that's not for me to comment on.”

Jones insisted Cardiff deserved the victory, despite Ospreys rallying with late tries.

He said: “We had other things we could have controlled better, other than the officials' decisions. We needed to execute our own game better.

“I'm more concerned with getting into that than worrying too much about the difference in those incidents.

“We could have got something at the end, but it was probably a fair result if I look at the level of performance on both teams.”

Cardiff will finish the season as the highest-placed Welsh team in the URC and hope to achieve Champions Cup qualification, but they might not retain the Welsh Shield.

This is a sub-competition within the league which acts as a domestic championship to determine local bragging rights between the four Welsh regions.

It is separate from the main URC league table and the winner is decided by head-to-head matches, not league positions, during the regular season.

Cardiff have gone three points clear of Ospreys, who face Scarlets on Saturday, 9 May in Bridgend.

A win for Jones’ side will at least provide some silverware this season, however meaningless some might consider this side-league.

“Something tangible for us is trying to win the Welsh Shield,” said Jones.

“We have still got a chance of doing that, which would be something we're proud of.

“Although Welsh rugby is perhaps not held in the esteem it has been over previous years, I still think trying to win something like this is important for your fans and players, because it is beating your closest rivals.

“That’s something we would like to get done in the next outing, but that's going to be a big ask against a passionate Scarlets side.

“We also want some momentum into next season in terms of everything that's gone on this year."

Dragons played much better in URC defeats at Munster, Ospreys, Stormers and Lions than they did in victory at Zebre, but will not care a jot.

David Richards' try with the clock in the red ended the Rodney Parade club's four-year away winless streak in the league and gives them a shot at finishing above Scarlets in the scrap to avoid being Wales' worst-performing team.

Dragons would probably have lost this game last season. but had the belief to record a third URC success of a campaign that also features three frustrating draws.

"There is a lot of grit and character in this group and that has been building for a long time," said head coach Filo Tiatia.

"I'm proud of the players for staying in the fight.“

It also provided a timely boost going into the Challenge Cup semi-final at Montpellier next Sunday.

Dragons earned a last-four tie by winning at Zebre and Tiatia went strong with his line-up on the return to Parma, with nine starters retained from the Challenge Cup victory.

The key figures – Aaron Wainwright, Ben Carter, Angus O'Brien, Tinus de Beer – came through unscathed and now all attention is on France.

Dragons have made strides this season and proved a tougher nut to crack, and will hope to show more of that resilience at Septeo Stadium next weekend against their French hosts.

Scarlets interim director of rugby Nigel Davies remained upbeat despite an agonising 23-21 home loss to Bulls.

A 79th-minute Handre Pollard penalty broke Scarlets hearts, a week after Davies’ side conceded 21 points in the final nine minutes to lose 28-24 against Cardiff.

Scarlets have slipped to 15th, below Dragons, with Zebre propping up the table.

"The margins are narrow in professional sport and we are working hard to make sure we are on the right side of these victories," said Davies.

"We are gradually getting there, but there were a couple of key moments in that game.

"Overall I am delighted with the players and how they reacted to last week.

"They were brave and we executed the game plan well, which gave us the opportunity to win the game."

Scarlets failed to exploit their two-player advantage in the second half, guilty of kicking away possession during that time, but Davies was encouraged by the performance.

"We are a side looking to find its feet, but we are getting there and this was a statement of intent where this team is going," said Davies.

"We are moving forward. We have a clear plan and the boys are starting to execute on the field. There is a lot of hope to take from that performance.”