WINNERS
Ioan Lloyd
Where else to start but this young man?
Making his first start at fly-half in the Premiership, the youngster made his mark with a dazzling performance for Bristol in their demolition of Bath.
Offering a real running threat to the position, Pat Lam looks set to benefit from the youngster in the coming weeks - with Lloyd not involved with Wales in the Six Nations.
Despite being a blow to not be picked by Wayne Pivac, regular minutes at fly-half is surely the best thing for Lloyd's development moving forward.
Dan Biggar
With so few caps between Jarrod Evans and Callum Sheedy, Wayne Pivac could really do without Dan Biggar losing his form or fitness in the coming weeks.
It will have been comforting, then, for Pivac to see the Wales No.10 not only come through Northampton Saints' win over Gloucester unscathed, but also play so well.
Biggar put in a typically assured performance to help his side to a 31-26 victory at Kingsholm.
Northampton Chronicle writer Tom Vickers described Biggar as a 'class-act', adding: "He showed the value of having such a top player at fly-half to keep things ticking over."
He will now return to Wales camp to prepare for the visit of Ireland on Sunday and he's likely to have a spring in his step.
Dafydd James
Not a rugby achievement from the former Wales and Lions winger, but James is no less a winner after a remarkable month.
For each of the 31 days of January, James completed a 'marathon' - covering the daily 26.2 mile distance either by rowing, cycling or running to raise money for two charities close to his heart and awareness of mental health.
A simply tremendous feat by the 45-year-old.
Ross Moriarty
It was a frustrating autumn for Ross Moriarty.
The back rower has been out of action since suffering an injury to his right ankle on international duty in October.
But the news from Dean Ryan is he is close to a return and could even feature in the Six Nations. With a Lions tour on the horizon, that's a big boost for the 2017 tourist.
LOSERS
Rhys Priestland and Thomas Young
Being on the receiving end of a hammering is never enjoyable.
Priestland was part of the Bath side that shipped 48 to Bristol, while Young was captain of the Wasps team that went down 49-17 to Harlequins.
What made the drubbings more galling for the pair was the fact they both left the field prematurely.
Priestland's departure was only temporary, being sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on. As SomersetLive writer John Evely noted in his ratings, in which Priestland scored a 3 out of 10, "Nothing went right for the Bath fly-half this evening in a shambolic performance by the visitors."
As for Young, his departure was permanent - with the flanker going off injured shortly before half-time following a concerning knock to the head.
Glenn Delaney
Things are tough right now for the Scarlets boss and the break in fixtures is really coming at the right time.
They've looked a shadow of their former selves in recent weeks. The defeats to the Cardiff Blues were more concerning than what went down in their 52-25 drubbing at the hands of Leinster, but Saturday night was uncomfortable all the same.
Due to the gulf in finances, the regions will struggle to compete with the likes of Leinster and the difference in quality is particularly exposed during international windows.
Leinster's squad just runs deeper but you expect a little more from the Scarlets. Not withstanding the might of their visitors, the Scarlets made poor errors before defensively and in terms of their discipline.
In many ways, they made it easy for the Irish side and Delaney is beginning to face real criticism from a fan base that is not used to losing. Certainly not like this.
It feels like the Scarlets are in free fall at the moment and have looked way off the pace in recent weeks. Delaney will hope for a change in fortunes when the Scarlets host Benetton in just under three weeks.
