27/03/2016 Scrum V Sunday

The weather did its best to scupper things in the Pro12. West Wales

derbies are never tame. But Scarlets, trying to bring a name

you're losing great to an end. And another colossal top-class. Here's

the number one four Wales, but Rob Evans still pulls weight on the

farm. After rugby, it is normality, just relaxing. Can London Welsh,

become a force at Pro12? Brave new times. I think we have the potential

to take the club forward, with new investment. Good evening and welcome

to another programme. The Pro12 playoff picture becoming complex.

All of us, help to assess. And as always, I will have the latest from

the Premiership, and a mystery guest, visiting St Helens over the

weekend. All of that to come, but only one place to start, the West

Wales derby between Osprey and Scarlets. A number of modes watering

Webb against Dvi, Webb against Davies. Scarlets coach welcomed back

Evans and Ball. Webb. Away to Baldwin. Webb again. Switching

direction. Matavesi can run free! Opening try. 15 minutes gone. Webb

away to Matavesi. Thornton, gallop on the outside. Baker to chase.

Jones runs into touch. Davies... Head back. Bit of ground. Down the

blindside. Space and power! Van der Merwe looks to have got there! If

that touchdown was clean... The good. Scarlets, first try. 29

minutes, van der Merwe's seventh of the season. Plenty of aerial

battles. Scarlets diving in. Penalty. 42 minutes. And this, to

give Ospreys the lead. Davies finds the target.

The advantage being played, Scarlets. Brought back, for the

penalty. This, to level things up. After 45 minutes. Jones. Wales under

20 fly half makes no mistake. Scarlets battering away. Close

quarters. Davies tries to go over the top. Coming back, Evans to have

a go. Ospreys kicked it over their own dead-ball line! Not much to

smile about, for Warren Gatland. The tackle. Scarlets have got yet

another turnover. So many of them was this afternoon. We wouldn't

touch. Crowd, booing. Davies. -- cleared into touch.

Webb, Underhill. The chance should still be on. But the interception.

Parkes! Morgan tracking back. Davies to chase. Cannot gather cleanly.

Davies isolated, holding on. Good defensive work. Davies, Thomas.

Owens. Struggling for. Spills out loosely. Scrums have been a mess.

Scarlets, turnover. But that was illegal. 66 minutes. Thomas, six

point game. Finding the mark for the second time.

Flying in, tackle. Ruled to be high. And it is good to be another

Scarlets penalty chance. Four minutes late. There is to give

Scarlets some breathing space again. And over it goes. Scarlets looking

good to cement the top four place. Trying to control the Scarlets

scrum. Another penalty. Fittingly, the scrum dominated game ends with a

scrum penalty. A lot of backslapping. This, too surely kill

off the champion cup hopes. And Scarlets, we with derby victory.

That was a landmark win, only the second victory, at that ground, in

the existence. It reflects the contrasting fortunes of the two

sides. It is a massive result for Scarlets. They have had a lot of

demons, and I think we have been waxing lyrical about how deeply.

Schooling for fun. But yesterday, the pack was outstanding. Dominated

Ospreys. The death -- deserved the victory. And the Scarlets eight,

taking them to the cleaners. How did they do that? I did not see that

coming. And as you mentioned, some good matchups, Owens, Baldwin. First

scrum. Good attacking opportunity for Ospreys.

scrum. Good attacking opportunity set pieces to work from. That was

the images rendering him... Giving him a hard day at the office.

Ospreys usually dominate, I think it was a change in the guard.

Ospreys usually dominate, I think it not playing, and I think his

presence makes a massive difference. That was not helping.

presence makes a massive difference. down to one pivotal moment. Neither

side seemed to be seizing the initiative. But we saw that from the

end, that pass, changed everything? It was an arm wrestle, up until this

point. This was a changing point of the game. Ospreys, getting to the

22, on the front foot, you thought they were going to get a try. Back

to this. Four players. Nobody in front. Just a split second faster,

try time. But he has dabbled. And they have taken the ball. They do

not end up scoring, but it was a massive momentum shift. Scarlett,

Scarlets -- kicked on. And almost, a unanimous choice, this man, in most

of the teams of the competition, he has been on before, doing his level

best to poison us, at the Masterchef challenge. But this week, we went to

see Rob Evans at his natural habitat. This is my uncle's farm.

Basically where I grew up as a kid. It is just a little village. We had

a calf born yesterday. Happy! Good calf. All the family, farmers. My

old man was never good in the gym. But he has an agricultural strength.

After a long day of rugby, it is just normality, going to the farm,

move cattle. It is relaxing, really. Nice to come back. After the World

Cup, obviously I was missing out, so I went back to Scarlets, and I kept

my head down. I wanted to be involved in the Six Nations. And

obviously, when you have got Jenkins, James in front of you...

You do not think you are going to be playing that much. But thankfully I

have got an opportunity, and I was just delighted to play. Highs and

lows. With the, highs and lows. Deleted the start against Ireland,

start at the Six Nations, but it was tough against England. Second row.

Brown! Anthony Watson. England, in full control just after 40 minutes.

I was disappointed with that. But I suppose it was good to finish on a

high against Italy. The last time we filmed here, Dan Biggar. We just

talk about milk price. Stuff like that. Chat about farming. It is

good. Scarlets means a lot to me. I am from the region. And I just

really want to win something, with Scarlets. Obviously, we have got a

tough game against Blues next week, and then Dragons. But we in a good

position. And the boys that have been only, we have still been doing

a good job. Looking forward to the end of the season. And that is a

crucial try for Scarlets. They are going to stay in the top four, in

contention. We have been in the top for all of the year, would be a

shame to that following. We have got some big teams coming up. The next

few weeks are going to be massive. It has been an incredible 12 months

for Rob Evans. We talk about the Scarlets dominance, but it his all

round game. This is almost the bread-and-butter. I think he has

really improved the scrummage. Outstanding. Mobile, powerful,

carries well. Good ball skills. And I think this was just one of the

carries. He wants to do this. 75th minute. Leading the kick chase.

Massive hit. And on the back of the Six Nations, it is so difficult to

come back, after being away with the Six Nations, he really is the number

one. She deserves that. I spoke to him last year, after the leak, I saw

him in the car park, but he was really down about the scrummage. He

has been superb, over the last eight weeks. He has almost replaced

Jenkins, the most experienced of all time. How will he be feeling about

that? Watching that, I think he will still be up for the fight, obviously

proud guy. Still got a user to good Rugby League. But he has got to keep

his feet on the ground. How does he do that? Naturally, good guy. Most

of what I have been told from Scarlets, he is keen to develop.

This is only the start. Still bigger things to come. If he can carry on

developing, he could almost surpass what some of the other great props

have done. I think he has got the main set to do that. The cover is

certainly looking well stocked. And it was a top of the table class,

this weekend, as Connacht hosted Leinster, but before that classical

and -- Glasgow and Ulster. Pass inside. That is beautifully

done. Try for Henderson. Glasgow taken it in. I was watching Ulster

holding, taking this quickly. Just going for that. And Glasgow could be

in trouble. That was going out of play. He has to be defending. But he

has not been. McCloskey scores! What an Eos -- on earth were Glasgow

thinking? Pass behind. Good take from Reid. Pass out. Hogg. Chip

over. Hogg goes up and in! Great try for Glasgow! Russell. That is a

brilliant run. Glasgow in! This is superb. Seymour! How about that? Two

tries in two minutes. Seymour crosses! It was first versus second,

the only try went to Connacht in the first half. It was miraculously

chase down, by Marmion. 7-0 at half time. Madigan struck this. Setting

up a grandstand finish. His side then laid seige, but Connacht held

on, second win in seven matches against Leinster. Some speculation

that London will shun London Scottish could be on the deal job

joining Pro12, possibly a seven figure sum standing by. We travelled

to London to find out if this was an imminent reality, or distant dream.

If history makes a club then London Welsh's status is going to be

assured. It still told the record for the more players selected for a

single Lions tour. But administration, relegation,

relocation, dribbling gates, and a sense they no longer belong. We are

not the most favoured club. We feel like the uninvited guests. I think

we felt it was not the natural home. So London Welsh find themselves

having an identity crisis. No longer welcome at the Aviva Premiership,

where could they seek refuge? I think it would make sound commercial

sense to have London franchise, television revenues, sponsorship and

commercial deals, nobody I have spoken to disagree with that common

sense. 12-15 million people in this part of the world. That is the

aggregate population of Ireland, Scotland and Wales. If you're going

to be running a blue chip company, I do not know she would be running to

back one of them, you would want be convinced that they were going to

the meaning serious business. Apart from the crowd issue, and the

middle-of-the-road championship team at best, they also do not not have a

stadium. The traditional headquarters has neither the

facilities of the capacity to be a top-flight venue. But arguably, more

pressing issues to address. The regions are poorer than

counterparts, and it would take some persuading to admit a fifth

professional side, and it would surely provoke outrage. I cannot see

Ospreys, Scarlets, Dragons... Talking about the piece of cake,

it'll be smaller. Because London Welsh are coming. You have got to be

joking. We see the advantage, of playing Pro12 rugby, at London,

everybody wins. More revenue available, not just for London

Welsh, but each of the four Welsh regions, in addition to what they

are getting, and it would not alter what WRU are currently funding. So

just to be clear, you would not call with a begging bowl? I did not say

that. But we do not want to deprive regions of one penny. Of that

investment does materialise and the two clubs in. Add the Pro12, what

could they bring, in terms of crowds? We can look at the evidence.

It is not that compelling. So far this season, London Welsh and London

Scottish have an average of just 1000 at the English championship.

Not exactly box office. If London wheels can attract a crowd, at

Oxford, to see them against Harlequins, Saracens, what makes

them think they are going to get more people to come and see them

against Blues, Ospreys, Munster? London Wilshere 52 recent stones in

the top-flight. The first was promising. But then, docked points

for an ineligible player. The second was a disaster. So what makes them

think life is going to be easier? I think we have sufficient confidence,

for us to sign more players. We want more Welsh in London Welsh,

recruiting more people, with Welsh pedigree. Could we see Welsh teams,

competing in Europe? The not too distant future. It would be a brave

man to predict that. If we cannot aspire to achieve that... What's the

battle worth fighting? A health spoken to London Scottish, and the

SFU, they have funded the appointment, of Grant, so some

degree of interest, but London Scottish themselves have said that

at present the ambition is just to remain competitive English

championship team. The WRU have acknowledged it would be good for

Welsh rugby, but have said they are not in a position to fund them. So

this hot potato! London Welsh, joining Pro12, good or bad? For

Welsh rugby, and you talk about Gatland, it has got to be a good

thing. It just increases the number of Welsh players at a competitive

level. Commercially, got to be some detail behind those thoughts. They

have sat down, and put some sort of proposition together. It could be

the Pro12 at some stage. I do not nobody would actually add. 12 teams

now. Who misses out? Battalions? Additional team? It is a massive

question. As it stands, to just bring someone in, and spread that

funding, it is not going to happen. The point is that I put to them, the

card and -- current crowds, about 1000, and most controversially, if

they did agree to fund that, it would cause outrage.

points I think Peter Jackson hit the nail on the head for me. What I will

say, they would definitely make more sense to have them in the

say, they would definitely make more do think there's any reason

say, they would definitely make more Lets leave it there because this

debate will run on and on. Let's get back to the action and remind

ourselves what happened when the Blues welcomed Treviso.

COMMENTATOR: Great off-load to Warburton. Gethin Jenkins trying to

keep up with him. The bounce favours Jayden Hayward. What a comeback that

would have been for Sam Warburton. A great take. By Josh Turnbull.

Perfect position. Jenkins. All the way, the first try has gone for the

Blues. Lloyd Williams. If Fernando causing problems? Surely this

time... Navidi has just about got there.

Turnbull. Support there from Gavin Smith. Turnbull is there to receive

the ball back. Anscombe... Rey Lee-Lo! Makes it to the try

line. Rey Lee-Lo gets his first try in Blues colours. Navidi turns. Just

short. Lloyd Williams can't get his hands on the ball. The forwards want

another crack at it. Kristian Dacey gets the try that brings the Blues

the bonus point. He was off? He wants to carry on

with things, Jayden Hayward. Right on the try line. Kristian Dacey's

tackle keeps him away. A long ball out and it is the flanker Lazzaroni

who gets a try for Treviso. Anscombe has it all to do himself

and he may well do it. Great catch. I think he's lost that.

Vosawai got so close to a spectacular try. Now, far more

conventional. Drive towards the try line. Over the try line and this

time does get his try. Evans picks out Patchell. Fish. Support by the

side. It's Tom James who canters over.

Lewis Jones with the quick take and go. Dan Fish looking to go all the

way and Dan Fish does go all the way!

Lovely little Thoreau and go by Evans. Summerhill back inside, to

Patchell. That's try number eight for the Blues. We ground them down

and managed to score a few extra tries at the end. The forwards have

a bit to work on. I'm pleased with the result. STUDIO: The Blues now

scored more points than any other side in the tournament so far. Back

down to eighth after momentarily going up to seventh. Themselves in

the race for a possible European qualifying spot. This notion that

Danny Wilson selects a different side for playing at home because of

the 3G pitch, is that a good policy for you? I think so. He's shown with

Josh Turnbull playing in the middle as well. They've got a very mobile

pack. This pitch is the quickest pitch, as you've just mentioned the

amount of points that's been squad that it's a much more open,

fast-growing game. It suits having players who are faster as opposed to

may more bulky. Josh Turnbull, 50th appearance for the Blues on Friday.

He was man of the match in the Wales squad but didn't get a sniff on

match day squad in the Six Nations. Becoming a real store what. His

become outstanding since he signed for the Blues. He's got that

versatility tag which she doesn't want. You want to nail down a

certain position. For me this is his future. There's so much quality, he

does everything. He wins line-outs, he can carry. He is just an absolute

engine. He keeps going, a nuisance to play with, a nuisance to train

with and play against. He's in the middle of everything. I think he's a

perfect, further Blues, they need some centre rose and he's perfect

for them. They've a big game next Saturday against the Scarlets. The

other big debate selection wise was fly half Rhys Patchell. Anscombe

comes back, Patchell reverts to full-back. Was that the right call?

They are two good tens. I think Patchell is a good 15, he's big and

strong and great running ability. I think they can bind very well. Danny

Wilson has used them well. More often that not that first past is to

wake up Patchell. They play a much wider game. Certainly at home and

certainly with these two guys playing. They are 11 macro's first

thought is to look at what's in front of him and run the ball back.

There's a real strength under real quality that they have.

Unfortunately for the Blues, Patchell is moving on next year. He

wants to play ten and have that opportunity. Matthew Morgan comes

in, slightly different player at 15. Very good in open field, a great

runner, a good passer, but I do know whether they would have the same

ability to get the ball as wide as they have done in the last 12

months. I think he's a massive loss for the Blues, Patchell and a big

plus to the Scarlets. An unexpected delivery in the office this week. I

arrived on Monday morning to find an enormous package waiting. I was both

delighted and relieved to find this cracking mural of Welsh fly-halves.

Cliff, Guy Watkins, Jonathan Davies. I think you can see what the artist

is trying to do. James Hook appears to have been cut out of the picture.

We tracked the guy down, he is a Pembrokeshire artist and we went to

see him to get him to tell us what inspired him to do this painting.

Born out of frustration slightly due to my deep love for the game of

rugby football especially back play. Brought up watching Phil Bennett,

Jonathan Davies. I just feel as if Hooky should have played more times

for Wales. The reason I painted this and felt I had to voice my opinion

through it was because I feel there is a demise in Welsh backplate, in

particular. I just wondered what you guys in the studio might think. What

do you think? A novel way to resurrect this debate and whether

Wales play with enough flair and instinct? Yellow.

I think sometimes you look back and the game has changed a lot. We would

all love to see a little nippy scrum-half who throws dummies and

things. I think we are where we are, we've got an incredibly athletic set

of backs. We are highest point scorers in the Six Nations as well.

I think it's a bit overboard if I'm honest. Is there a happy medium,

play twister and a pattern but perhaps have a bit of instinct as

and when the opportunity arises? I think it's to throw out the

backline, you have to have a structure. The nature of the game

allows full structure. If you go onto any playing field even if

you're talking about professional level and further down and you just

expect them to go and running and play as you want with a bit of free

spirit you're not going to win international matches. You have to

have a structure. The backline you can have more variety. You can

perhaps do things a bit different. I call the imagination and creativity

and you can do that on the training field, you can work out how the

opposition defend. Look for a bit of spark and know-how in terms of your

ability to use that. It's not what it was in the 70s, 80s and 90s. The

game has changed enormously. The reality is you don't see it anywhere

now. You've got to have the ability to be able to play what you see

sometimes. You can have a general structure but you've got to adapt

and play what you see. I think there were times in the Six Nations when

you had overlapped on things and you may have taken contact and maybe not

adapted quick enough to different pictures. Let's move on. The weather

did its best to disrupt things over the weekend. Plenty of games went

ahead including a titanic tussle in the valleys. Hurley could you tell

the difference between the players because of the conditions. There was

no way this quarterfinal tie was going to be called off. Nearly 5000

of them came to the house of rain. For the clash billed by some as the

money men against the bad boys, so many rivalries. The return of the

chief. Ponty coach, championship leaders against the Premiership

leaders. The valleys cup final. Now they edge to the Pontypridd

line. Over they go. Can they get it down? It's a try, says the referee.

It looks like Davis the flanker who is getting big congratulations. That

is the 22 of Merthyr. And a penalty given to Pontypridd. This would be

point bank usually for Sweeney but in the conditions, that is an

excellent kick from the former Wales outside-half. Ponty getting much

more of the play in this second half. That's the only tactic left

really in these conditions. Ponty Forwards following up the kick. Now

they've got it again. Lockyer in the scrum-half position. Lloyd Williams

again at the base using his runners. Any yardage forward is a boon in

these conditions. Lloyd Williams and a penalty given. Again, this would

be usually straightforward for Sweeney. That takes Ponty into the

lead and as we go into the final quarter how important could that be?

The clock says 79 minutes. It's a penalty to Merthyr. Look at Andy

Powell, he's done everything in the game, what does that mean to him?

And to win it Merthyr, he's wide but... It went forward on the line.

Ponty will have a final scrum. Merthyr with one final chance. Using

that blindside. They need it quick. It's a bit slovenly coming back and

Ponty are almost able to burgle it back. It went forward and that is

it. Pontypridd by a point. A classic cup game, plenty of passing. It's

great to see so many people down here. Nice to come through with one

point to spare. Difficult conditions didn't help to play rugby but I

think in the second half we made some errors. We are quite

disappointed. STUDIO: Pretty testing conditions to say the least. It

looked quite dangerous. It's a shame, we knew the weather was the

wave it was. A bit of a lottery. A fantastic crowd there. What about

the significance of this game when you consider the two clubs, two of

the most ambitious playing each other? This is what everyone in the

valleys was talking about. Two ambitious clubs. Sam Thomas has

thrown a lot of money at Merthyr. They've come in and stirred the pot

a bit and Ponty have factory act. A real old school Derby. -- have had

to react. Ponty go through. You mentioned the crowd a couple of

times, 4800, quite remarkable when you take into account 5000 at the

Blues Treviso game as well. It just shows it caught the imagination of

everybody. It's been building up. Good luck to Ponty. Let's take the

attention to the principality Premiership next. Three matches did

go ahead including two huge Gwent Derbys. In terrible conditions Ebbw

Vale extended their lead to a club record nine. Ebbw Vale What a red

carded for a tackle later on. How big a loss will that be in the title

race? Newport stole a march on Cross Keys. 0-0 at half-time before Adam

Brown crossed for their first try. Keys came back into the game

courtesy of a try by James Leadbetter. Made even sweeter by

being against his old club. As the game wore on Newport gradually got

being against his old club. As the on top and Alex Jeffries popped up

the blindside Despite a late try Wales held out

for a narrow 31-30 win. It was great. Couldn't have asked for more.

I've said since I was a kid I wanted to play for Wales, I hope I did

enough to get picked for the next game. His hearts been set on playing

for Wales since he could speak. He was born in Cardiff, he's had a lot

of approaches from other teams but he wanted to play for Cardiff, the

Blues and he wanted to play for Wales. All round he will be

delighted. If he leads the singing he's just about completed it.

Congratulations to Wales who next face Italy on Tuesday before heading

back to Helens on April the 6th of face England. Great to see Ian

Botham on the programme. Onto the final Pro12 game and the Dragons

entertained Edinburgh. COMMENTATOR: Solid enough. Hewitt

comes to the openside. An opportunity here. The touch judges

flag goes up. Despite the cheer from the crowd. Lovely angle from Lewis

Evans. An out from the referee. Flat ball now. There's an opportunity. A

little bit of pace from the winger. This looks under control. Julius

Wright in the middle of that. Extra weight is added by Brown. They are

over the line and eventually they do go down. I think it is Alex Toolis

in the second row. It's not at all, it's Hamish Watson. Pretorius just

about scrambles it to Screech. Jones goes wide...

He doesn't need the support. Amos goes over for the Dragons second and

more importantly for his second try. Some good performances out there

today. I thought a scrum was good. Edinburgh scored tries from their

counterattacking game, lots and lots of positives. We've just got to

learn not to give three pointers and silly little bad decisions on the

ball at times. That victory for Edinburgh saw them climb above the

Blues into seventh place. The any change to the top four is Munster.

Connacht and Leinster remained first and second, Scarlets still in the

hunt. The race for the play-offs is set to go right down to the wire. We

talked about pivotal moments in games and we talked about the

pivotal one in Scarlets Ospreys, there was one in that one right at

the end. The Dragons had a chance to kick a penalty and win it and they

didn't. The complete moment of madness. I thought maybe he was

trying to get an extra ten metres. But you could at least have a go

from there. Then I was thinking they didn't want the Ospreys or the Blues

anywhere near the top sets. LAUGHTER One big shining positive is the form

of Hallam Amos. He's been back in that Dragons side not one after his

injury in the World Cup and could have scored a third try. He did look

sharp. Obviously there's a vacant position, a position up for grabs in

the Welsh side at the moment. Amos has been given an opportunity.

Perhaps he hasn't taken the opportunity for Wales as yet but he

needs to consistently put in performances like this at club

level. He's very sharp. He knows where the try line is. Just his

general ability out wide to get to the line is excellent. Again,

there's talk about whether he's a better full-back or batter on the

wing. I think he's good enough on the wing to deserve a chance. You

might have that one game and things don't work out and perhaps it didn't

for Wales this year but if he's given a run of and more opportunity

then he can grow in confidence and become a better international

player. He started in that Italy game, ironically that was when Wales

had a shed load of points but he didn't manage to get into the game

and he'll be frustrated by that. He still really young, Hallam Amos.

He's still learning the game and he's got a huge future in front of

him with the Dragons. A tasty derby this weekend, two Derbys to look

forward to. The one on Friday night is the Dragons against the Ospreys

at Rodney Parade. Can you see the Dragons piling more misery on the

Ospreys or we'll go get the backlash? I think it'll be a tight

game. It's a Rodney Parade. The Dragons are hard to beat there. It's

never been a nice play to go and play rugby. I would expect a good

tussle. I think it will be a real tussle. I think the Ospreys will

come out on top. I think they will bounce back after the disappointment

of yesterday. And then it Scarlets Blues. Please won the corresponding

fixture over the Christmas period but the Scarlets know they have got

a home semifinal in sites. Bill be bouncing after yesterday's win.

Please had a good run against Treviso but Scarlets looked like a

complete team. They get a week off after that so that Ospreys win will

mean nothing unless they beat the Blues. Looking forward to that one.

We talked about this on Friday night, they are sneaking up that

table and there is an outside chance of European qualification for the

Blues. Realistically they would have to win the best of their games. The

Dragons didn't do the Blues any favours today by losing to

Edinburgh. I think they will just come up short but they've definitely

improved. It's been a step in the right direction. Thank you for

coming tonight. That's all we have time for. This weekend the weather

more than played its part in proceedings. We thought we would

enter night with a selection of the best pictures from the weekend as

sent in by the viewers. See you on Friday, good night.