Weeks like this remind us Welsh rugby is merely surviving

There was talk about this being a rebuilding year, not another one focused on survival, but things are still stark

Earlier in the season, Cardiff head coach Matt Sherratt said that if last year was about survival, then this year was about rebuilding.

Now, it’s unlikely that his outlook has changed too much in the month or so since, but, if ever there was a weekend to show that survival is never too far away from being top of the agenda, then we only had to wait five weeks into the season for it.

This week, the four professional clubs in Wales revealed that - collectively - they were without 53 players for this weekend’s United Rugby Championship fixtures.

The Scarlets were without seven players for their clash with the Bulls, while Cardiff travelled to Edinburgh without a dozen of their squad.

The Dragons welcomed Benetton to Rodney Parade shorn of 15 players, while the Ospreys were hit the worst - being without 18 players in Belfast to take on Ulster.

On those numbers alone, it’s perhaps not surprising that Dwayne Peel’s side was the pick of the bunch, beating the Bulls in Llanelli with a superb performance, while the others all came away empty-handed.

That’s not to take anything away from the Scarlets, of course. It was a superb victory, and, even if they weren’t as affected as others this week, there’ll be weeks in the months ahead when they’re suffering the most.

This is the stark reality of life in Welsh rugby right now. Of the 157-odd senior players in Wales this season, 46 of them were either injured or rested this weekend.

That’s almost a third unavailable for selection. Cardiff went to Scotland without a travelling reserve hooker, while the Ospreys played a hooker in the back-row for what was just his second senior start for the club.

It doesn’t take much for survival to be on the horizon again, does it?