Welsh sides' fortunes remained fairly constant as we transferred to the Heineken Cup - two home wins, two away defeats, same old same old. The Dragons' bonus point at Perpignan looks worth the trip, but despite playing their part in a great spectacle, the Scarlets couldn't bring anything home from Clermont. The Ospreys put spectators and commentators through a horror show at Liberty Stadium before seeing off Bourgoin - it's to be hoped that the 4-1 points exchange won't come back to bite them later.
Performance of the weekend is a doddle to call, though, thanks to the Blues' comeback romp against Bristol. A game of two halves, this - or more accurately, a game of 39 minutes and 41 minutes. No surprise, really, that the Blues struggled to get a platform even against an average English pack. Scarcely any more when, having done so, they ran their guests ragged. In all, the weekend has done little more than throw the obvious weaknesses of the Welsh game into increasingly sharp relief. Give us a fast, open game and we can mix it with anyone; challenge us up front, and we simply can't cope. The Scarlets' backline was aflame in France, but their forwards - the heroic Alix Popham aside - were bullied out of it. Bourgoin never seriously threatened to score tries in Swansea, but their percentage game nicked them a slice of the spoils.
It's impossible not to sound like a broken record on this issue - but it's fundamental, and we're still not sorting it out, at club or national level. There's no point having fly-half factories if we have to import entire packs. At the moment our best forwards are Filo Tiatia, Paul Tito and Xavier Rush. Let's hope our latest import can offer some answers. Over to you, Woz...
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