The decision looked to be a wise one as the visitors led 22-9 at the break but Treviso roared back after the break to snatch a famous win.

But Davies said: “I’m convinced the selection was the right one – we played well in the first-half

“We let things slip after the break and I don’t think other players would have made a difference.

“We have a plan for our internationals and I am sticking with that. The team was good enough to go and win in Treviso and that team will play again for us this season.”

Newport Gwent Dragons boss Paul Turner pulled no punches after they were on the wrong end of a 40-17 thrashing at Connacht.

It was the Dragons biggest ever defeat to the Irish side and Turner said: “That was as poor a performance as I’ve witnessed for a long time.

“I knew we wouldn’t be ready but we shouldn’t be that far off – there’s a lot of players who have got to take a long, hard look at themselves.”

Fly-half Dan Biggar bagged 21 points in Ospreys trip to Ulster but that wasn’t enough to prevent the champions going down to a 27-26 defeat.

The Ospreys conceded 13 penalties and boss Sean Holley said: “We simply have to adapt to refereeing interpretations.

“If there are areas where we need to improve our discipline they will be highlighted in the review we will hold this week.”

Cardiff Blues brightened the Welsh gloom with a Dan Parks inspired 34-23 win over Edinburgh.

The Blues new-boy, who moved from Glasgow, bagged six goals in and outstanding display and coach Dai Young said: “We all know what Dan is good at - on a couple of occasions, when we were under pressure in the game, he certainly turned the pressure back on them.

“I thought he was a great link between forwards and backs. He got our game going really well. I was really pleased with his performance.”