Trio through but Welsh clubs rue missed Euro chances

It was a case of missed opportunities for the Welsh sides in the group stages of Europe, even if three of them will feature in the last 16 of the Challenge Cup.

Cardiff, Dragons and Ospreys will play in the knockout stages in April when going on their travels respectively to Benetton, Stade Francais and Ulster.

They might ponder what might have been after frustrating defeats denied them the chance to host ties.

Scarlets will certainly have regrets after being eliminated from the Champions Cup and not even having the consolation of dropping into the Challenge Cup.

They gave Northampton a scare at Franklin’s Gardens, but ultimately their failure to beat Bristol and Pau in Llanelli cost them.

Wales will have no sides in the last 16 of the premier European tournament while England has seven, France four, Scotland and South Africa two each and Ireland one.

BBC Sport Wales looks at some talking points from the group stages.

One of Dragons’ most famous wins was at Stade Jean Bouin in 2014 when they stunned Stade Francais 38-22. They will aim to repeat the trick in April.

The Rodney Parade club hammered Newcastle 35-12 on Friday for a fourth win on the spin in Newport.

They had to wait for their place in the last 16 to be rubber-stamped on Saturday evening when Perpignan and Lions drew 20-20.

Dragons’ penalty try in the 68th minute proved to be crucial, securing a bonus point that avoided elimination and earned third place in the group.

“It will be massive for the group to be in the knockout stages of Europe,” said co-captain Angus O’Brien. “Everybody in the circle wants to be competing for things and we will give it everything.”

Filo Tiatia’s side put themselves under pressure with an awful round one defeat by then winless Perpignan in France.

The head coach then made what was ultimately a wise decision by resting his big hitters for what was always going to be a tough trip to Benetton, albeit their record 74-21 hammering was not what was expected.

Dragons now have United Rugby Championship (URC) trips to Munster, Ospreys, Stormers and Lions to try and cure their travel sickness before the bid for a huge upset in Paris.

They have not won away from Newport since a win in Newcastle in December, 2024.

O’Brien starred in the famous win at Stade Francais when he stepped up due to Jason Tovey having a passport mishap.

“We’ve had four great wins at Rodney Parade and the next step is to win away, and we are working hard to do that,” he said.

Munster will be looking to react in Cork after being stunned by Castres at Thomond Park in the Champions Cup, leading to them dropping down to the Challenge Cup.

Ospreys head coach Mark Jones says he does not regret his selection after his side lost 31-26 to Montpellier in the Challenge Cup in Bridgend on Saturday.

The defeat meant Ospreys will now face an away trip in the last 16 when a victory against the French side would have resulted in a home match.

Jones made 13 changes from the side that lost to Zebre and did not include Wales internationals Dewi Lake, Dan Edwards, James Ratti, Kieran Williams, Keelan Giles and Harri Deaves, Australian lock Ryan Smith or prop Tom Botha in the squad.

“I think there’ll be people looking at the selection asking why haven’t you picked your so-called more established players for the game,” said Jones.

“The fact is we’ve played those players over Christmas through a tough period, short turnarounds, a lot of them have been banged up or been ill.

“We have got a short turnaround coming. I think we’ve had seven in the last eight so the rest and recovery is the result of the brutality of these games.

“If you play the same players all the time, they’re going to end up being blown out before the end of the season.

“It was important we freshened up the group, not just to have an energetic performance, but also grow some depth in the group.

“We need to find out about some of these young players and what they can and can’t do. Part of my job is to grow the depth of the team.

“I tried my best to get the balance right around trying to win the game. We almost won the game. I don’t regret the selection.

“It was done with good thought and process behind it and I am just disappointed that we didn’t nail the result.”

Ospreys looked set to claim a home tie after picking up 10 points from their December fixtures, but must now go on their travels.

Cardiff are fighting on two fronts and coach Corniel van Zyl has had a consistent approach throughout the Challenge Cup, using the tournament to develop competition for places.

The Blue and Blacks have still named strong sides and that was the case in Exeter when they failed to seriously trouble the in-form Chiefs in a 31-0 loss.

Cardiff face a key spell of their season in the coming weeks with a six-day turnaround to a home game against Benetton.

They have a trip to Ulster before the Six Nations, a home fixture against Leinster during it and then a South Africa tour to take on Bulls and Sharks.

Cardiff will hope to still be in a strong position for the play-offs before considering what approach to take for Europe.

Given that the prize for an upset at Benetton would be a trip to either Exeter or Munster, more rotation could be on the cards to save players for the URC.

Nigel Davies’ task as interim director of rugby at Scarlets is now a clear one – climb off the bottom of the URC and reel in a Welsh rival.

The Llanelli club are out of Europe after losing all four games in the Champions Cup, with costly home defeats by Bristol and Pau.

Scarlets should have at least been continuing in the Challenge Cup, but instead will have a fortnight off at the start of April.

The display at Franklin’s Gardens gave reason for optimism and they will look to hit those heights again in the URC.

“I was delighted by how we took the challenge on and I have told the players that they have set their standards this whole week with how they have applied themselves mentally and physically,” said Davies.

Scarlets host Ulster and travel to Benetton before the Six Nations and then go to both Edinburgh and Connacht during the championship.

However, they will know that their discipline needs to improve after they got on the wrong side of referee Kevin Bralley to concede 15 penalties.

“The difference against Northampton was our scrum,” said Davies. “If we had parity then we would have won.”

Only Zebre have conceded more than Scarlets’ 99 penalties in the URC – and the Italians have played a game more – while they have also been given nine yellow cards and a red.