United Rugby Championship: Welsh regions braced for toughest season
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Cardiff were the highest-placed Welsh region in the URC last season
The United Rugby Championship (URC) kicks off this weekend following a delayed start due to the World Cup.
A week after Wales were knocked out by Argentina at the quarter-final stage in France, the nation's eyes turn back to regional rugby.
However, Cardiff, Dragons, Ospreys and Scarlets are staring at what is predicted to be collectively their most challenging season yet.
The financial crisis within the domestic game has stripped squads to the bare minimum.
It is common to see ageing stars look for a final pay day abroad following a World Cup.
But smaller budgets mean smaller squads and what set a torrid summer apart was the enforced departure of so many club regulars due to wages being slashed.
Welsh rugby will be hoping there is truth in popular wisdom that out of chaos emerges opportunity proves true and they can at least lay a foundation for financial stability and future growth.
National coach Warren Gatland has already pointed to a silver lining that youngsters, whose progress in the past has been blocked by overseas players or regional coaches under short-term pressures, will now get a chance.
However, there is a general consensus that 2023-24 is set to be a hugely difficult season where survival is a more realistic ambition than challenging for any glories.
The regions have shown themselves adept cup teams with all four qualifying for the knockout stages of Europe last season.
They are capable of lifting themselves for the one-off occasion, not least Ospreys beating the English and French champions - Leicester Tigers and Montpellier - and Scarlets reaching a semi-final.
However, sustaining that level over the course of 18 regular season games is proving beyond them.
Wales has not had a team in the league play-offs since Scarlets in 2018 and last season saw their lowest win ratio (33%) since the formation of the original competition - the Celtic League - back in 2001. Ospreys, Scarlets and Dragons all finished in the bottom four places in 2022-23.
Changes to European qualification mean there is no automatic Welsh place in the Champions Cup for the following season.
Cardiff qualified as Welsh Shield winners for the top competition, despite finishing 10th overall in the league, prompting a change where meritocracy is put ahead of representation.
South Africa are still involved with the World Cup while the Wales internationals are not due back until next month.
So what are the hopes of each region this season?
Cardiff
Can Tinus de Beer prove a success at number 10 at Cardiff Arms Park?
Dai Young's side were the top Welsh performers in the URC last season following an impressive start that began with an opening weekend win over eventual champions Munster.
They went on to beat Scarlets, Dragons and had a remarkable 35-0 win over Sharks in South Africa before the wheels came off at the turn of the year.
Cardiff then suffered a torrid few months with the death of long-time chairman Peter Thomas, the protracted departure of Young and speculation of merger talks with Ospreys.
Matt Sherratt has been promoted to head coach for the first time and his squad has been belatedly boosted by the return of veteran centres Rey Lee-Lo and Willis Halaholo with a takeover of the club due to be completed within the next month.
They also avoid many of the title challengers in their opening five games so will be looking for a strong start again.
Sherratt said: "We showed real resilience last season against the backdrop of everything going on and we hope to build on that, even if with a very different squad.
"If we're going to rebuild then let's do it properly. We need to invest in the structures of the club and if there any 50-50 calls with selection, I'll go for the young guy. All we're looking for is to show fight and a brand of rugby that will excite people."
Head coach: Matt Sherratt
Captain: Josh Turnbull
Last season: 10th
Key signing: Tinus de Beer
Finding a new fly-half was a priority for Cardiff this summer following the loss of Wales pair Jarrod Evans and Rhys Priestland.
Initial efforts to sign South African De Beer from Currie Cup side the Pumas were blocked by the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU), who eventually gave the green light.
In such a crucial position, much will rest on the shoulders of the 27-year-old who broke into the Bulls senior team and has been a regular in the Currie Cup ever since.
Dragons
Dan Lydiate has re-joined Dragons with whom he began his career 16 years ago
Dai Flanagan took Dragons to the European knockouts in his first season and managed to double their number of league wins from the previous campaign - though that was still only four.
Flanagan has managed to retain the bulk of his squad while the arrival of Wales pair Dan Lydiate and Cai Evans could be smart business.
A takeover in the summer has brought a wave of positivity at Rodney Parade, as demonstrated by winning both their pre-season matches, but they have been the bottom Welsh region in seven of the past eight seasons.
Dragons will also need to make the most of playing four of their first five games at home.
Flanagan said: "We should be doing better. Dragons have been underdogs and the most underfunded of the regions, but that's levelling off now.
"We're stable, there's more of a foundation now to allow us to grow and look forward. We need to talk about winning and put more expectation on ourselves.
"We need our home performances and results to go well. Rodney Parade is a fortress, I never liked going there as a player and we need to make it a place players don't want to come and that starts this weekend."
Head coach: Dai Flanagan
Captain: Steff Hughes
Last season: 15th
Key signing: Dan Lydiate
He may be 35 years old, but Lydiate was still good enough to be part of Gatland's World Cup squad and was singled out as being "extremely unlucky" at missing out on the quarter-final - a decision the Wales head coach has since questioned.
Lydiate began his career with Dragons and brings with him a physicality, experience and winning mentality that the Dragons have lacked.
Ospreys
Jac Morgan helped Ospreys to European wins over Leicester and Montpellier last season
The star-studded departure list from the Liberty Stadium during the summer is sobering for even the most optimistic Ospreys fan.
Alun Wyn Jones, Tomas Francis, Rhys Webb, Gareth Anscombe, Joe Hawkins and Scott Baldwin have all left. However, the decisions of Wales captain Jac Morgan, former skipper Justin Tipuric, Nicky Smith and Owen Williams to stay is a boost.
Mark Jones has joined as defence coach following a successful stint as Wales Under-20s head coach.
Three of their first four games are billed as home fixtures, including hosting Sharks at Twickenham Stoop, though head coach Toby Booth refused to make any firm predictions.
"For sure it's probably been the most challenging pre-season I've been involved with in 20 years," Booth said.
"We've had 18 players leave and few arrive, with a World Cup on top of that, so we've had to train against Swansea Uni regularly, as well as Dragons, Cardiff and we went to Bath.
"We've deliberately not spoken about targets as a group. I want to manage expectations because going 13 weeks straight will present enough problems.
"The moment you look too far ahead you trip up and we've just got to get used to being in that washing machine of preparing well every week."
Head coach: Toby Booth
Captain: Justin Tipuric
Last season: 13th
Key signing: Jac Morgan
Not so much a new signing, but convincing Morgan to commit his future to the region with a new contract amid the exodus from Ospreys this summer now looks a major achievement given the interest in the flanker at the World Cup.
Morgan was Wales' outstanding player of the tournament and looks set to be national team captain for the coming years so will be a major part of any rebuilding at the Ospreys.
Scarlets
Taine Plumtree has already been capped twice by Wales despite only moving to the country this summer
Scarlets will be aiming for a far better start than last season when they managed just one win from their opening 10 games under Dwayne Peel.
Their season was transformed over Christmas, sparking a revival in the league and a march to the Challenge Cup semi-finals.
They had 15 players departing at the end of the season, including veterans Leigh Halfpenny and Rhys Patchell. Aaron Shingler chose retirement and last season's outstanding performer, Sione Kalamafoni, also left.
However, they have also recruited strongly from England with the likes of fly-half Ioan Lloyd, lock Ed Scragg and Scotland international Alex Craig as well as new Wales back row Taine Plumtree.
"It was a bit weird last year because we had a big emphasis on starting fast and then we didn't. It was the total opposite," said Peel.
"We just didn't come out of the traps and we got in a rut. But we stayed true to what we were trying to do.
"Europe helped us in many ways because it gave us a bit of a change of focus and we didn't look back from there really. We found a good rhythm and consistency.
"Pre-season has been challenging, but it's given us time to spend with the boys and they have been great. We're in a good place."
Head coach: Dwayne Peel
Captain: Josh Macleod
Last season: 14th
Key signing: Taine Plumtree
Scarlets pulled off a major coup by bringing the Wales-qualified back row from New Zealand, where he was playing Super Rugby for the Auckland-based Blues and provincial rugby for Wellington.
The back row is the son of John Plumtree, the former Swansea head coach and ex-All Blacks and Ireland assistant coach.
Versatile and athletic, he can play six or eight as well as offer another presence at the line-out.