Welsh regions complete 'most disjointed season'
- Published
L-R: Welsh regional bosses - Ospreys' Toby Booth, Dwayne Peel of Scarlets, Cardiff's Dai Young and Dean Ryan of Dragons
Wales' four professional sides have come to the end of one of the most turbulent seasons since the inception of regional rugby in 2003.
Ospreys, Scarlets, Cardiff and Dragons failed to finish in the top half of the United Rugby Championship (URC) and did not qualify for the end-of-season play-offs.
The most excitement created was during the final weekend, when Ospreys pipped Scarlets to the Welsh shield, meaning they claimed a place in next season's European Champions Cup as the URC's top Welsh side.
Yet the truth is this was Ospreys finishing ninth, with Scarlets one place below them, as Cardiff and Dragons languished in 14th and 15th in the 16-team league.
That final weekend witnessed a clean sweep of Welsh defeats, with Cardiff's 69-21 humiliating defeat in Benetton the low point.
There were three Irish, three South African and two Scottish sides in the top eight and four Welsh regions, two Italian sides and one each from Ireland and South Africa in the bottom half.
The Welsh teams could not muster a single victory in Europe's Champions Cup or Challenge Cup, while they also struggled on their travels to South Africa in the first year of the revamped league, with eight defeats on those shores.
So while the season will continue for teams in Scotland, Ireland, England, France and South Africa, Wales' professional sides can only look ahead to the next campaign.
Before the final weekend of matches, BBC Sport Wales spoke to the head coaches and directors of rugby of the four regions to see how they have coped with the season.
The quartet were asked to assess their campaign, what needs to be addressed and how they have dealt with off-the-field conversations, which have included talk of cutting a professional region.
Ospreys
Toby Booth has previously coached at London Irish, Bath and Harlequins
Ospreys finished as the highest Welsh region to seal Champions Cup qualification for next season.
They finished ninth in the URC table with 10 wins - failure to pick up enough bonus points forcing them to miss out on play-offs - and no victories in the Champions Cup.
They have been without injured captain Justin Tipuric all season and also had to cope with the retirement of hooker Ifan Phillips, who suffered a leg amputation below the knee following a motorcycle collision in December 2021.
Ospreys have benefited towards the end of the season from having something close to a full side with George North, Alun Wyn Jones and Dan Lydiate returning to fitness.
Rhys Webb, Morgan Morris and Jac Morgan have been star performers. The region will provide 11 members of Wales' 33-man squad for the summer tour of South Africa.
Ospreys head coach Toby Booth: "I think there's been progress, my overriding thing is we've moved forward, but we're still not performing probably at the level we're capable of.
"There has been some mitigation. We've had what happened to Ifan, Covid, cancellations, high-profile international players having been injured long-term.
"With Ifan, I have been doing this for quite a long time, and not experienced anything like that before.
"As a leader and person who people looked to for guidance, there was soul-searching around the best course of action.
"We all pulled together to try and move forward and maintain performance on the pitch.
"The reaction from the group was one of disbelief, and almost like a bereavement.
"Rugby clubs are like family, you spend so much time and have such a reliance on each other.
"It had an effect even though it was not spoken about much, like a mourning effect.
"People require energy and motivation to be at their best. When you are in a state of flux or shock, that can influence things.
"The good thing was the resilience the squad showed around that and they managed to get through it.
"Ifan had a part in that, he was visible here, when it was right and boys saw him training, that was very cathartic for both sides.
"On the field, you have seen that in recent weeks when we've had people back on the pitch, we look a more competitive side.
"It's great to blood the youngsters and get more miles on the clock for them but those things are difficult to back up and that's where you need the senior players.
"Everyone is talking about being competitive in Europe and, if we can get the recognised team on the pitch, we can do that.
"If you look at the recruitment side of things, we're pretty tight on what we could do this year.
"We had some opportunity last year, we've got a lot of players off contract next year.
"Post-World Cup year there's going to be a lot of changes and that's hard enough to manage as well.
"The off-the-field matters in Wales is something I've never really experienced before.
"I come from the English Premiership and have got a lot of friends in different leagues around the world.
"It is fairly surprising, bearing in mind the positive intent - we all want the same outcome.
"We want a successful competitive Wales, competitive regions, competing in Europe, to develop and produce the best players and the best entertainment to get people to watch.
"My own personal view would be reduce the player pool opportunity at regional level and below that, and what feeds into that, would be wrong.
"You'll be getting less competitive games for less players and you're expecting people to still to perform at the top level.
"So we need to keep the base of professional players as wide as we can."
Scarlets
Dwayne Peel arrived at Scarlets as head coach from Ulster
Former Scarlets scrum-half Dwayne Peel has just finished his first season as head coach.
They finished 10th in the URC table with eight victories and failed to win a game in Europe. Scarlets suffered Covid-19 complications when they travelled to South Africa in November 2021 and were forced to self-isolate in two countries.
Overseas forward pair Sione Kalamafoni and Sam Lousi have been outstanding and will be joined by All Blacks second-row Vaea Fifita next season.
Scarlets head coach Dwayne Peel: "It has been eventful. The big thing for me was to get an understanding of the place - it has been a long time since I left.
"We were up and down at the start of the season and then the November international break happened at the wrong time for us.
"The next three or four months were very fractured, with what happened to us in South Africa, the isolation, the Christmas derbies getting cancelled. Europe was tough on the back of that as we had no momentum.
"The South Africa experience took a lot out of the players, you think it is only three weeks or four weeks, but the fact we did not play much rugby beyond that was tough.
"It was difficult to control because there were a lot of things happening at the time. It was something I had not experienced before.
"I have enjoyed the time after the Six Nations, we have played 10 games on the bounce, the boys have started to properly gel.
"There were a couple of losses that we can be frustrated about because we would have been in a different position.
"Not making the play-offs was disappointing, there are probably four or five games throughout the season where we were in the game and could have taken it. That could have made the difference.
"We have scored a lot of points but we have conceded a lot. We have put ourselves in positions to win games but not done so.
"We have a side who can play good rugby with flair and I don't want to lose that because it signifies what this rugby area is about.
"The big thing is we become tough to beat, especially at home, and at times we have not been.
"We have had a long injury list and what that has done in effect is given some of our younger boys opportunities. We will be better for it.
"The players have insight into what we want to do and there has been a great buy-in, especially senior players like Jonathan Davies, Scott Williams and Gareth Davies.
"I am excited for next season. We have put some good foundations in this year and there is a lot of hard work to be done with elements of our game we need to fix.
"We have reduced the size of the squad, so it will be important we have got everyone up and running.
"The big signing is Vaea Fifita, he is going to be great, he is a serious athlete.
"Good overseas players are important, Kalamafoni and Lousi have been standouts for us this year.
"For general Welsh rugby, we have to be together and aligned. We need to be positive around our regional rugby because we have seen some good games of late.
"It is important we start being competitive and regularly compete for those play-off places."
Cardiff
Former Wales captain Dai Young is in his second coaching stint at Cardiff
Cardiff finished 14th in the URC table with seven wins and an embarrassing, record 69-21 final-day defeat in Italy against Benetton.
They only managed two victories in six matches against the Welsh regions and were knocked out of the Challenge Cup last 16 by Saracens.
Cardiff suffered Covid-19 complications when they travelled to South Africa in November 2021 and were forced to self-isolate in two countries.
For next season they have signed Wales trio Liam Williams, Taulupe Faletau and Thomas Young and Australia lock Lopeti Timani.
Cardiff director of rugby Dai Young: "It is by far the most disjointed season that I have been involved with as a player or coach.
"If you look at the results we are not too dissimilar to where we have been over the last two or three years.
"The performances have been in the extreme, our consistency in games has not been good.
"We have had some fantastic wins, beating Glasgow and Leinster were real highs, but real lows have been our performances against the other Welsh regional teams.
"This is not an excuse and we know we have to be better, but we can't underestimate what Covid did for us.
"We were ticking along nicely before we went to South Africa and we have had more disruption than anyone else, we went something like 10 weeks with no game.
"Not only that, [we had] no training as well and that was tough because you can't work on things.
"We were Covid compliant to the letter so in training there were no scrums, driving lineouts or any real contact and then you try and fit in 12 games on the bounce.
"You should not forget about this season or brush it under the carpet. You have to look at it as mitigating circumstances and factors why performances are not where we wanted.
"I won't hide from that. I don't think we are getting the best out of this team and there is more to come and that's our job.
"We have to improve in every area. We have a good coaching group, we have to take the stones being thrown at us at the minute, it's part of the job, but we have to come out better next year.
"Cardiff have only been in the top eight once or twice in the last five years and then you throw in four South African sides.
"I believe there are at least six teams in our league of Super Rugby quality, so getting into that top eight is difficult.
"Some teams in Ireland and South Africa are in different places at the moment and we have to admit that. As much as people don't like to hear it, that's the truth.
"Are any of the Welsh teams in a position where they are pushing for cup finals? I will probably get hammered for this, but I don't think we are.
"Top eight is where we are pushing for at this moment in time. I may get criticised for that but I want to be realistic as well. All the Welsh regions will be working hard to improve.
"We are looking for four regions to be competitive and at the sharp end of the season. Everybody wants the same thing and we are all pulling together.
"I genuinely believe we will be better next year. We have four quality players coming into a leaner squad, we have had to cut the numbers down because of the way the league is.
"Our better players are going to play more often which is important and what everybody wants to see, so I am looking forward to it.
"It has not gone the way we had hoped this season, we have to take it on the chin.
"Hopefully next season we can start showing we are moving in the right direction."
Dragons
Dean Ryan took over as Dragons coach from Bernard Jackman
Whichever way you look at it, it has been another terrible season for Dragons.
In Dean Ryan's third season in charge, Dragons won just two games and managed no home victories, finishing 15th in the United Rugby Championship, with only Zebre below them.
Leading lights have been captain Harrison Keddie, Jack Dixon and Ben Fry, while Wales duo Will Rowlands and Taine Basham have starred for region and country at different times this season.
Twenty players have departed with new recruits including Rob Evans, Sio Tomkinson, Bradley Roberts, JJ Hanrahan, Rhodri Jones, Sean Lonsdale, Max Clark, George Nott and Angus O'Brien.
Dragons director of rugby Dean Ryan: "We can't hide from [the fact that] it's been a difficult year.
"I wouldn't look at the season as a whole, I'd probably look in thirds.
"At the start pre-autumn we were really competitive but just didn't get any momentum around results.
"Post-autumn internationals Covid just affected everybody and towards the end having to play 10 games has challenged whether we've got the appropriate depth to continue to compete without key individuals.
"We've got to look at how this organisation changes, how it builds depth, and not lose sight of the positives of the growth of players we have developed like Will Reed, Ben Carter, Taine Basham and Ben Fry, because we don't necessarily get the results and therefore the headlines some of those guys deserve.
"The players have been outstanding. I can't speak highly enough of them going every week.
"It is as tough as it's ever been. To try managing change isn't easy, and impacts on a lot of people.
"There's easier ways of going about it - carrying on doing the same as what we've always done.
"But my job here is to give clear direction to the way Dragons can improve, given the landscape has been as challenging as ever.
"There are plenty of times I don't know what that answer is but I, along with the board, have got a clear plan about what we've got to do to give ourselves the best chance given the context of what the background looks like.
"Looking at the overall situation in Wales, the rhetoric that's important is the Professional Rugby Board look at how the game moves forward.
"We have got to look to them, the governing body, to come up with solutions because it is complex. There are a number of things that need direction and resolving.
"We don't all get an equal amount of money, therefore it ultimately changes how competitive we can be, how we recruit and how we give opportunities a lot faster than other places.
"Everybody is trying to achieve the same things, yet there's clear disparity in how the game is currently funded leading to a lack of clarity. We need that clarity.
"This is probably the most crucial time for the PRB to give a direction of travel and purpose and understanding how things are going to be achieved."