Welsh rugby's winners and losers as coach faces rising fan anger and Williams responds to Gatland rejection

It was a mixed bag for the Welsh sides this weekend - with a stirring victory, a record defeat and a one-sided derby all taking place.

While Cardiff tasted success against South African opposition in the shape of the Stormers at the Arms Park, the Dragons couldn't say the same after losing 69-14 against the Sharks in Durban.

Then, in Swansea on Sunday, the Ospreys ran out 31-9 victors over the Scarlets - pushing their west Wales rivals to the bottom of the United Rugby Championship table.

Here's the winners and losers from this weekend...

Winners

Mackenzie Martin

The script was so nearly perfect.

Mackenzie Martin, making his competitive debut for Cardiff, picked up from the base of a scrum with the scores level and the clock in the red. Dropping his left shoulder, he finds a gap to the right of Clayton Blommetjies.

As he does, the try-line suddenly bursts into sight for the 20-year-old. The chance to be the hero.

Unfortunately, Keke Morabe's last-ditch tackle denied him the fairytale start in the jersey. However, that carry would set the platform for Rhys Litterick's winning score - capping an impressive cameo off the bench for the Ely boy.

Ospreys' overlooked star

For Ospreys star Keiran Williams, his World Cup dream was largely over before it had begun.

The centre made the extended training squad but, after just 21 minutes of action in the warm-up defeat to England at Twickenham, the writing was effectively on the wall as Warren Gatland pointed out an error of his post-match. He didn't head to France.

On Sunday though, he put forward a strong case that will make him even harder to ignore, scoring twice to take the man-of-the-match award.

"It was difficult for him, you get a taste for it and you don't get it, none of us like being rejected," said Toby Booth of Williams afterwards.

"It has an effect, we know that we need to create an environment where we're supportive, but also 'right, what are we going to do about it then?'

"To see the response from Keiran, Morgan Morris who have not been involved, Rhys Davies, those boys are big players for us and all they can do is keep putting their hand up and keep performing well."

Cameron Winnett and Max Nagy

Wales' full-back options have always been a little bare beyond Leigh Halfpenny and Liam Williams.

In Cardiff's Cameron Winnett and Ospreys' Max Nagy, we saw a couple of 15s who could potentially become contenders in the years to come.

Both are still learning their trade in the professional game, but this weekend reinforced that the pair have bright futures ahead.

Test calls might come at some point - in Nagy's case, that all depends on when he actually qualifies on residency - but for now, it's good just to see two young players learning in the saddle.

Neither seem fazed by the consistent starts they're getting in this new era of smaller squads and even smaller budgets. You fear that the greater exposure of younger players could break more than it makes, but the likes of Winnett and Nagy might be the exception to that rule.

Losers

Dwayne Peel

The pressure is building on the Scarlets head coach after the west Walians dropped to the bottom of the URC table.

The Scarlets have now lost five out of six, with Peel's side having conceded 200 points in four away games this season against Ospreys, Leinster, Bulls and Stormers.

Some fans on social media are calling for his head. It was a similar story last season, with a poor start to the season being followed by a strong second-half.

Will he be able to turn things around this year? Does the fault even lie with him?

The former scrum-half is the man taking the heat right now, but some of the squad building and contracting decisions go above him. It's not exactly easy to make lemonade with the lemons on offer in Welsh rugby right now.

Bruised Dragons

A week on from their first win at Rodney Parade in over a year, the Dragons likely weren't expecting to keep the bunting out as they went in search of their first away league victory in 19 months.

Even with the Sharks having been winless in the league before this one, including a home defeat to Connacht the week before, travelling to South Africa is a tricky task for the Welsh sides.

Throw in the return of World Cup stars like Eben Etzebeth and Makazole Mapimpi for the Durban side and the odds were stacked against Dai Flanagan's side.

Heading into this one under-strength, things only got worse with some early injuries robbing them of Will Reed and Cai Evans. The 69 points conceded was a league record for the Gwent side.

Given the lack of a genuine fly-half now following the injuries to Reed and Evans, things are bound to only get tougher ahead of the clash with the Lions next week.