Five things we learned from Welsh URC openers

Wales has Cardiff to thank for avoiding a complete whitewash on the opening weekend of the United Rugby Championship (URC).

Last up, the Blue and Blacks beat Lions 33-20 at a wet Arms Park to start life after Matt Sherratt with a five-point haul.

That victory ensured their was no repeat of the final round of last season’s URC campaign, when all four regions suffered losses.

There were positives for Dragons and Ospreys, who lost 42-21 at Ulster and 53-40 at Bulls, but it was a tough start for Scarlets.

Dwayne Peel’s side – who were Wales’ best last season, finishing eighth – were outclassed 34-21 at home by Munster.

BBC Sport Wales takes a look at five talking points from round one of the URC.

Jac Morgan’s clearout for the Lions’ clincher – labelled “perfect” by World Cup final referee Nigel Owens – was one of the Welsh highlights of the sporting summer but one of his international teammates did not fare quite so well at a ruck.

Ben Thomas saw his yellow card upgraded to a 20-minute red under review, after he was deemed to have caught Nico Steyn high.

The theatrics from the South African scrum-half matched Australian Carlo Tizzano’s from Melbourne, drawing attention to the incident for referee Filippp Russo to mull over with TMO Stefano Roscini.

It was an offence that saw flanker Taine Basham denied a debut try and led to Cardiff having to work much harder for their deserved win.

Head coach Corniel van Zyl – who stepped up after Matt Sherratt left to take charge of Wales’ attack just six days before the start of the season – said: “It’s a tough one. I thought it was potentially just a yellow card and it could have been play on, but they’ve got more views and probably saw it better.

“In the moment, if you really go in slow motion, you can see things. That makes it tough and it’s a new thing in the league and in Europe, so we have to be better in those situations.”

Cardiff will be without legendary Taulupe Faletau, who played just eight club games last season, for another few weeks while he recovers from a summer calf injury.

That led to Alun Lawrence continuing at number eight after featuring 23 times in 2024-25 and he made an impressive start to take the official man of the match award.

The 27-year-old made 16 carries and 12 tackles in a well-balanced back-row display with try scorer Alex Mann, Basham and Dan Thomas off the bench.

Van Zyl said: “He is an unbelievable machine. He has got an engine on him and it felt that he gets into the game and is so consistent, which makes it tough not to select him.”

Lawrence will aim to build up a head of steam against Munster in Limerick on Saturday.

Ospreys captain Dewi Lake cut a frustrated figure afterwards, but leaving Loftus Versfeld with something to show for their efforts was a solid start.

Home results at Brewery Field will determine whether Mark Jones’ side have a successful season but their opening performance on the road gave reason for optimism.

Ospreys have a formidable pack but it was their enterprise that stood out against Bulls, with four of their six tries coming in a superb first-half display.

They set the tone early with a strike play to put Keelan Giles over and there were prominent performances from wing Dan Kasende and the midfield of Phil Cokanasiga and two-try centre Kieran Williams.

Add in the playmaking of Dan Edwards and Jack Walsh, plus the threat from back-rowers on the edges, and there is plenty of promise with ball in hand.

Ospreys made 12 clean breaks to six by Bulls but did allow their hosts to put the squeeze on and did not hit their usual standards at the set-piece.

“There was a lot of self-harm with how we encouraged the Bulls into our red zone,” admitted head coach Mark Jones.

“With a side as good as the Bulls at this altitude it was always going to tell and we spent too much time without the ball.”

Ospreys face Stormers in Cape Town on Friday with Jones pledging they “won’t be trying to reinvent the wheel” against hosts who hammered Leinster 35-0.

Scarlets were the biggest disappointment of the weekend when outclassed in Llanelli by Munster in another slow start to the URC.

Hundreds of fans had marched to Parc y Scarlets in protest against the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU)’s proposals for the elite game.

But all the noise in the build-up was soon silenced as Munster proved by far the better team when making it seven straight wins over Scarlets.

An all-Wales international back line did not live up to its billing as the home side toiled in a narrow attack, with scrum-half Gareth Davies living off slow ball.

There was a glimpse of something better in the second half – a training ground move pulled off with Davies and Sam Costelow combining well to set up Blair Murray.

Summer signings Joe Hawkins and Jake Ball put in a shift but it was young hooker Harry Thomas who impressed boss Dwayne Peel after being promoted from the bench.

“It was his first competitive start, he’s a tough cookie and a Llanelli lad which is great, he can probably walk home from here,” he said.

Scarlets face a tough trip to Connacht in round two with Peel urging his side to be more ruthless in Galway.

Dragons’ season could not have started any better with Aaron Wainwright profiting from Ulster’s failure to claim the kick-off to go under the posts after just 10 seconds.

It will be down to the URC to determine whether the Wales number eight’s try broke the record set by Munster’s Shay McCarthy against Ospreys last October.

Dragons failed to make the most of their lightning start and suffered an 18th straight URC loss after struggling to cope with Ulster’s approach.

The Irish province opted to keep ball in hand and that stretched Filo Tiatia’s side, leading to a four-try burst from the 28th to 42nd minute that put the home side 35-14 up.

Last season that would have led to a blowout but Dragons showed tenacity and could easily have been heading home with a pair of bonuses, or even a draw.

A marginal forward pass – with referee Griffin Colby perfectly placed – denied Rhodri Williams a fourth try that would have made Ulster nervy.

The visitors showed spirit and the game was closer than the scoreline suggests. Even so Dragons still shipped six tries and 42 points, which must be addressed if they are to improve their win tally.

Ulster racked up 16 clean breaks, ran for 560 metres and beat 25 defenders, with Tiatia’s side having a tackle success of just 77 per cent.

There were other positives – with combative fly-half Tinus de Beer impressing on his debut – but discipline needs to improve to keep Sharks out of their 22 at Rodney Parade on Friday.