It was three from four from our Welsh regions in Europe while Welshmen were making headline news across the Severn for their exploits in the Champions and Challenge Cups.
Pride of place went to the Scarlets for toppling French heavyweights Toulon while for one Welshman in England it was the agony of seeing his side denied a victory across the Irish Sea by the rule-book.
We look at Welsh rugby’s winners and losers from the four days of action.
Winners
Scarlets defence
At times Parc y Scarlets on Sunday resembled the Alamo but unlike Bill Travis, Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie, Ken Owens and Co weren’t overrun by superior forces that was star-studded Toulon.
Their rearguard action was of Victoria Cross standard and would have that small band of men defending that Mission in San Antonio back in 1836 doffing their stetsons and raccoon skin caps in admiration.
It wasn’t all about defence as the Scarlets bagged a glorious try from Scott Williams and came agonisingly close to breaching the try-line further through Gareth Davies, DTH van der Merwe and Steffan Evans.
But as French heavyweights Toulon upped the ante after the break, it was the Scarlets defence that shone bright with a Scott Williams and Rhys Patchell hit on threatening All Black Ma’a Nonu among the pick of the bunch.
Owen Williams
A loser last week but a definite winner this time around as the 24-year-old possibly saved Leicester Tigers’ director of rugby Richard Cockerill from another mauling in the media with a 52-metre 79th-minute penalty to give the Welford Road side an 18-16 Champions Cup victory over Munster.
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Williams kicked all of Leicester’s points to complete an amazing turnaround given the Tigers’ 38-0 humbling in Limerick a week earlier, a loss that gave some media folk reasons to believe Cockerill’s job was on the line with another loss in the Midlands to the Irishmen.
But uncapped Williams was the Tigers toast leaving England hooker Tom Youngs baffled why the Neath-born former Scarlet hasn’t earned Test honours.
“He’s a tremendous player, a competitor who wants to win. He is up for any sort of challenge,” said Youngs. “Owen is a pretty honest and reliable guy. Fair play to him. I can’t imagine what that pressure is like when the whole crowd is silent and you have a big kick like that one.”
And on Williams’ lack of recognition at international level, Youngs added: “I am surprised because he offers something different to what they’ve got there. But I am sure he will just keep working hard and keep his head down.”
Jamie Roberts
It’s fair to say it wasn’t the most memorable of autumns for the 86-times capped Welsh centre as he found himself starting on the bench for Tests with Argentina and South Africa for the first time since 2009.
Taking the brunt of the blame for Wales’ 32-8 defeat in the opening autumn salvo against the Wallabies and finding himself down the midfield pecking order behind Jonathan Davies and Scott Williams, Roberts gave us a timely reminder of his destructive capabilities with a try treble as Harlequins demolished Timisoara 75-3 in the European Challenge Cup.
Quins were pretty well top loaded with their stars and glance of some of their other try-scorers in Mike Brown, Marlande Yarde, Tim Visser and Jack Clifford illustrated the enormity of the task for the Romanian minnows at the Twickenham Stoop as Quins went top of Pool Five.
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And it was a gentle Roberts nudge to caretaker Welsh coach Robert Howley ahead of the Six Nations Championship, he’s ready to reclaim a starting spot.
Dan Biggar
It may have gone unnoticed among the mayhem of the Ospreys’ 71-3 thumping of Grenoble in Pool Two of the European Challenge Cup on Saturday that the Wales outside-half is on the brink of a truly stunning feat in the regional game.
For Biggar needs just 13 more points to become the first player to complete 2,000 in regional rugby.
No one else has even got close to the mark.
Only two other players — Ben Blair, with Cardiff Blues (1,078), and Rhys Priestland, with the Scarlets (1,064) — have passed 1,000 points for a region in competitive games.
It truly is some effort by Biggar, who didn’t take over as front-line goal-kicker for the Ospreys until 2009-10 after making his bow 18 months earlier.
He could reach the milestone against the Scarlets at the Liberty on December 27 or against Newport Gwent Dragons at Rodney Parade on New Year’s Day.
The Dragons
Admittedly the Rodney Parade region were playing a Worcester Warriors side down to 14 men for more than an hour after a red card for Sam Betty for punching.
But the pressure was on Kinglsey Jones’ side given the European Challenge Cup has given the region some respite from their Pro12 travails in recent seasons and hopes of making the knockout stages were diminishing rapidly.
A solid scrum and the performance of Tavis Knoyle at scrum-half were the plus points in their 22-7 victory over Worcester heading into the festive Pro12 derbies.
The Dragons will need to win both against Enisei and Brive to stand any chance of qualifying either in top spot or one of three best runners-up spots.
Losers
Leigh Halfpenny
Good news for the Scarlets and Welsh rugby on this occasion as Leigh Halfpenny missing four kicks at goal isn’t a story you’d expect to pen in a lifetime.
But I do suspect there won’t be as many cheers ringing around the Principality Stadium in a few months time as there were at the Parc y Scarlets on Sunday if the Toulon points machine has a similar off-day against England or Ireland in the Six Nations Championship.
It can be argued Halfpenny is one of the most sharp-eyed sniper from the kicking tee there is in the global game.
And though he bagged 21 points from seven successful kicks, four went astray, two in the final eight minutes that would have handed Toulon victory.
George Earle
The South Africa lock was controversially red carded early in the second half of the Blues’ European Challenge Cup rematch for making contact with the eye area of flanker Tom Ellis at a maul.
Having trailed just 10-3 at the break, the visitors wound up losing 38-3 following the two quick-fire cards, hooker Kirby Myhill was also sin-binned for a dangerous tackle on lock Dave Attwood, with Bath claiming maximum points to go top of Pool Four.
“It was obviously a game-changing moment,” said Blues coach Danny Wilson.
“The two cards have caused us a major, major problem. You can’t play against Bath with 13 men for any time and for half an hour with 14 men.
“I think they are both debatable.
“The red card was a key moment in the game and it obviously affected the end result.
“George was fighting to get through a maul. You see that week-in, week-out. His head is down. He certainly can’t see where his hand has gone.
“As soon as he’s realised in that split second where his hand is and that’s anywhere near the face, he’s moved it away.”
Dai Young
It was agony across the Emerald Isle for the former Wales prop and Blues boss and none of it was his doing.
It’s transpired Connacht should not have been awarded the late lineout from which they scored their winning try against Champions Cup opponents Wasps on Saturday.
The reigning Guinness Pro12 champions struck in the dying seconds, claiming a 20-18 pool victory that kept them in quarter-final contention.
But European Professional Club Rugby also said that the result stands.
In a statement, EPCR said: “The assistant referee, who had taken over as match referee following an injury to Jerome Garces, awarded a penalty to Connacht after time had elapsed.
“Connacht kicked the ball into touch, and from the resultant lineout, scored a converted try to win the game 20-18.
“However, as time had elapsed, Connacht should not have been permitted to take a lineout throw-in once the ball had been kicked into touch, as stipulated in Law 5.7 (e) of World Rugby’s Laws of the Game.
“EPCR would like to confirm that the result of the Pool Two match stands.”
Going into next month’s final two rounds of group fixtures Wasps, Toulouse and Connacht are level on 13 points.
Blues Premiership Select
The jury remains out on the regions taking over the British and Irish Cup with Select sides from the region rather than giving it to the high-placed clubs in the Principality Premiership table.
Who could forget Pontypridd’s matches in this competition and that heady Sunday when Valley’s coaches filled the M5 heading down to the Cornish Pirates in April, 2014, when Simon Humberstone’s late penalty earned Ponty a place in the semi-finals.
Though thew Scarlets are top of their group this season, the same can’t be said of the other regions with the Ospreys and Dragons third in their pools of four and the Blues rock bottom with four defeats from four to date.
Their latest loss was a 30-27 defeat to Ulster A at Pontypridd on the weekend.
Scarlets discipline
Having doffed my cap to the Scarlets defence, it has to be said their discipline could easily have undone their sterling defensive effort.
There’s not many times you will present normally dead-eyed Leigh Halfpenny with 11 shots at goal and escape with a 21-point punishment.
Giving away three-pointers when under the pump in the shadow of your own goal-posts is perhaps understandable but there was no excusing some of the later shots to win the match Halfpenny was presented with.
Namely Wyn Jones infringing at a ruck on the halfway line.
The replacement prop got away with it this time, but it could easily have been lamenting another hard luck story for the Scarlets against the French heavyweights after a Herculean effort at the Stade Mayol seven days earlier.