Winners and losers as travelling Welsh teams suffer 100-35 hammering and Wales gets new star

Welsh rugby's South African misery continues apace with the Ospreys and Dragons conceding exactly 100 points between them in the republic.

The Ospreys lost 45-15 against the Lions, with their fellow region going down 55-20 against the Bulls. But it wasn't grim news all the way from a Welsh regional perspective, as Scarlets got the job done in Italy against Zebre Parma, while Cardiff defeated Glasgow Warriors at home.

And Wales Women were outstanding in coming from behind to beat Ireland in the Six Nations.

Wales team stun Irish in Dublin

Rugby correspondent Mark Orders runs through the weekend's winners and losers:

The Welsh men’s team may have swerved badly off the road in Dublin last month, but Wales Women had no such problems as they defeated Ireland 27-19. It was a superb victory for the team led by Siwan Lillicrap.

Wales were playing their first Six Nations game with full-time professional players and part-time semi-pros after the awarding of contracts in January. And they pulled off a success which saw them dominate up front in the second half to overturn a 14-5 interval deficit.

Alisha Butchers proved the star of the show with a powerful display from the back row which helped Wales break a seven-match losing streak in the competition. But, really, Ioan Cunningham’s team boasted fine performers all over the pitch.

“We felt a bit more pressure coming into this campaign now that we’re professional, but rightly so,” said Butchers. “I’m lucky enough to have a contract and I can give my all to this sport. The growth in the last 12 months has been incredible.”

Wales have an opportunity to build on their win with a home game against Scotland next weekend, before they clash on the road with an England side who are