Welsh rugby's winners and losers as Scarlets ignite, coach left stunned and Morgan is a cut above

A visitor from a distant planet landing at Parc y Scarlets on Saturday evening might have wondered why so much doom and gloom abounded about Welsh rugby.

The Scarlets played some fine rugby and if the crowd was a shade disappointing the atmosphere was lively. All good, then.

But then the newcomer might consider Cardiff’s limitations on the night and two more defeats from South Africa for Welsh regions. At that point our alien friend might decide to head off back whence it came.

: What became of the famous Welsh rugby clubs after everything changed

MARK ORDERS assesses the highs and lows from the weekend.

The week simply couldn’t have gone any better for Johnny McNicholl short of his lottery numbers coming up.

Last Tuesday it was announced that the back-three man had signed a fresh contract with the Scarlets. Four days later he made his hundredth appearance for the Llanelli-based region, with his mother travelling from New Zealand to watch him play in Wales for the first time. McNicholl then came up with two tries in a man-of-the-match performance as his team posted a big over Cardiff.

“It’s amazing for me,” he said in an interview on Premier Sports after the game. “It’s just worked out by chance that this is my hundredth and Mum got to fly over. It’s the first time she’s seen me play [in Wales]. She’s been over a few times, but I’ve had a couple of injuries when she’s been here. It was emotional running out, in front of my mum for the first time. It was great.”

On the field, it couldn’t have gone much better. Close on every time McNicholl touched the ball he did something effective, never more so than when in the opposition 22. The first five-pointer saw him stand-up Jason Harries before effortless acceleration took