How do we think the 4 Welsh regions will do this time ?

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With the season almost upon us, it got me thinking, how do we think our four prized assets will do this up and coming season ? I have been looking through the squads and I have been following what has been going on in Welsh rugby over the last couple of months with great interest, and the only shining light I can see for the regions this season is the fact that the Blues have made much needed coaching changes and they have recruited well in areas they have needed to, so I have decided to do a region by region analysis for the up and coming season:-

Ospreys

Squad:- http://www.pro12rugby.com/teams/ospreys/squad.php

To be honest I can see a long season ahead for the Ospreys, unlike the other regions they have note made any significant changes to their squad and in Steve Tandy I do not think they have the head coach with enough know how to get Ospreys out of their European group or into the playoffs, although in players like Alyn Wyn Jones and Dan Biggar they do have leaders with the ability to be world class and perhaps they could lift the likes of Tuperic, Ashley Beck, Ryan Bevington, Andrew Bishop and Hanno Dirksen to a level where the younger players, which there is a lot of, will look up to and try and emulate, for me though the Ospreys do not look strong enough in the scrum, and although I do not think losing Adam Jones is such a bad thing, he had to go some time, his knowledge that he could have passed down to the younger front rowers could be a bigger loss than him actually not playing, so for me the Ospreys only chance for silverware this season will be in the league and that will not be easy for them.

League:- 4/5
Europe:- 3rd in their group

Cardiff Blues

Squad:- http://www.cardiffblues.com/rugby/first_team_squad.php

This will be a very interesting season for the Cardiff Blues, they have recruited, and recruited well, both on the squad and the coaching side, for me anybody other than who they had coaching them last year would be an improvement. I now think that the Blues have a front row who can compete with any side, and will be looking to get on top of most teams in the Pro 12, they have two decent tight heads in Mitchell and Adam Jones with players like Gethin Jenkins, Matthew Rees, Kristein Dacey and Scott Andrews all competing for the starting places, they will also have Anscome and Patchell fighting for the no. 10 jersey and Knoyle and Williams fighting for the no. 9 jersey, all in all I think this is the best we will see from the Blues since they last won the Amlin cup and there is no reason why they should not get to the final again this coming season, at least I can see one Welsh region making a fist of things this time around.

League:- 2/3
Europe:- Semi or Final perhaps winning it.

Scarlets

Squad:- http://www.scarlets.co.uk/eng/rugby/people.php

The Scarlets, well what do we have here, some good players, Samson Lee, Scott Williams, Liam Williams, Gareth Davies, but can Wayne Pivac get these boys playing to their potential, unlike Simon Easterby ? For me I think it is high time that the Scarlets stopped being the middle of the road region and start making waves around the league and in Europe, they have some real passionate fans, and some real decent players, they can go away to Northampton one week and show them their rear ends, then get done over by the same side at home the following week, for me I think they will be fighting it out with the Ospreys for the final playoff place in the league and they will come runners up in their European group, which will be an improvement but I still think that they do not have the coaches to take them onto the next step.

League:- 4/5
Europe:- 2nd in their group

Dragons

Squad:- http://www.newportgwentdragons.com/Teams/Squad/Dragons

Well, this one is quite interesting, for me the Dragons have the best coaches out of all the four Welsh regions, they have also made some very astute signings, bringing back Aled Brew, Lee Byrne and Andy Powell and a ground where at times seems very intimidating, but the Dragons seem to never have a platform to play with, the forwards are just not up to it at times, they are looking good for a team that looks to be improving but that is the thing, improvement is all they are looking for at the moment, they should get to the later stages of the second tier European competition, but they really do need to be aiming to finish as high in the league as they possibly can, if the Dragons get some wins under their belt early doors then they could go on and finish around the play-offs, and if they are still in contention for a play-off place towards the end of the season then that would equate to a good season for them, but for me they could well fall just short.

League:- 8-6
Europe:- Quarter finals

So, there you go, my first article in about four months, feel free to agree/disagree and debate any differences you have with me, all are welcome on my article and a good debate we should have over this, I think I have been fair and realistic, but feel free to point out anything you do not agree with.

IronMike wrote:I think the Ospreys have always struggled in Europe though, they seem to be capable of winning the Pro12 but always choke on the bigger stage.

The Blues have been surprising so far, I expected more from them but I appreciate a new coaching setup and new squad require time to gel so I wont write them off yet, they do seem to perform better in the European cup than Pro12 as well (Beating Toulon at home and doing the double over Glasgow).

The Ospreys have some key players injured to come back as well, Tipuric and Ashley Beck, when these two come back and start playing we will see the Ospreys getting better.

I don't doubt that those players have an impact but really its up to them to reach their potential, we say it every year that the Ospreys are going to do well in Europe this time and then fail to get out of the groups.

On paper they have a good chance of qualifying from their group.