Welsh regions facing another long, hard season to climb the URC mountain

Ben Jaycock and James Orpin report on the big moves as Siya Kolisi and Jordie Barrett prepare for their new clubs

The United Rugby Championship gets underway next weekend as the Welsh regions attempt to stop the rot but as their competitors continue to strengthen their riches, Wales’ four representatives appear to face another steep uphill climb.

Only the eighth-placed Ospreys managed to reach last season’s knockout stages, while Cardiff (12th), Scarlets (13th) and Dragons (15th) languished at the wrong end of the table.

Star Signings

Callum Sheedy and Aled Davies look solid coups from the Premiership for Cardiff, while the other regions have strengthened to offset departures.

However, their signings pale in comparison to the world class names other teams have drafted into their squads.

Back-to-back World Cup winning Springbok captain Siya Kolisi rejoined the Sharks earlier this week, while Leinster will be boosted in December by the addition of All Black centre Jordie Barrett, who derives from one of the most famous sets of brothers in the history of the sport.

Leinster have also brought in South Africa second row RG Snyman to beef up their pack even further and Benetton, previous whipping boys in the PRO14 era, have made statement signings from the Premiership in Matt Gallagher (Bath) and Louis Lynagh (Harlequins) to build on last season that saw the Italians finish above all of the Welsh regions in seventh.

Glasgow Warriors finished the regular season in fourth but beat Munster away in the semi-finals and produced a remarkable second-half comeback in Pretoria to be crowned champions at the expense of the much fancied Bulls in the final.

Ospreys

Toby Booth’s Ospreys will be aiming to positively represent the Welsh sides again, as they look to confirm their place as a top-eight side.

It will be the swan-song season for long-time servant Justin Tipuric, who will play his 16th campaign for the club before beginning his role in 2025/26 as defence coach, in place of Mark Jones who is stepping up to replace Booth as head coach.

Booth said: “If you were going to build the ultimate Osprey, it would look a lot like Justin Tipuric.

“He’s played at the top level but puts everyone above himself and has the best interest of the team all the time.

“He wants nothing more than the Ospreys to be successful and is the blueprint for young players coming through.

“Mark Jones being the head coach next year with a defensive hat on means he’s got a helping hand.”

A certain young player coming through who will look to fill the hole left by Tipuric is current Wales U20 flanker, 19-year-old Morgan Morse.

Booth said: “We’re very strong in the back row and that’s challenging for him but you don’t want to be dependent on the same players.

“He’s exceeded where people have expected him to be but we want to continue the tempo of his development.

“Rough edges need to be removed if he’s to get to the very top. We’re excited about him but more work to be done.”

Morse will have a challenge getting into the side ahead of Tipuric and new skipper Jac Morgan, but he is someone to look out for this season.

Scarlets

Scarlets will be hoping to bounce back from a poor 2023/24 and have brought in seven new players.

Dual international props Henry Thomas and Alec Hepburn will provide important experience.

Losing Teddy Leatherbarrow to Sedgley Park is a concern for the Welsh game overall, while legendary prop Wyn Jones has joined Harlequins and scrum-half Kieran Hardy has moved to rivals Ospreys.

Scarlets flanker Taine Plumtree is hoping to impress and nail down the Wales six jersey ahead of the autumn internationals.

He said: “We’re coming off the disappointment of an average season.

“A few old heads have left, which has cost us experience, but we’ve also got some new faces who have come in and caused the boys to up their game in training.

“On paper, our forward pack can be strong to play against.”

Dragons

The Dragons finished second bottom picking up just three victories but the capture of 28-year-old fly-half Lloyd Evans looks promising.

Evans was a product of Gloucester’s academy and made almost 100 senior appearances for the Cherry and Whites, including Gloucester’s Premiership Cup final triumph over Leicester, but has moved on in search of more regular playing time.

Wales lock Ben Carter, 23, is the side’s new captain and has already made 57 appearances since debuting in November 2020.

Cardiff Rugby

Cardiff, looking to close the gap on their arch rivals the Ospreys, have certainly been the busiest in the close-season.

Head coach Matt Sherratt has been able to attract multiple players from the Premiership with 28-year-old Sheedy looking to reignite his Wales career.

Twenty-cap Wales scrum-half Davies’ arrival from Saracens provides a great deal of experience from his time in north London and looks the ideal replacement for Tomos Williams, who has moved to Gloucester.

Benetton

Benetton will be optimistic going into the new season as they have added Italian-qualified Gallagher and Lynagh to the backline.

Head coach Marco Bortolami said: “They have both fit in very well, enjoy the team but are surprised with how hard we train which is a great sign and showcases our intensity.

“We want to keep growing our high-performance culture.

“We’re attracting big players from big teams hoping to build our aura and experience in high pressure play-off games.”

Glasgow Warriors

Despite being reigning champions, Glasgow’s pre-season form has been poor, with Franco Smith’s side losing to both Zebre and Connacht.

Head coach Smith isn’t pressing the panic button with player welfare the main reason he’s chopped and changed his starting XV given they played the URC final on June 22 and then sent 15 players on the Scotland summer tour of the Americas.

Edinburgh

Edinburgh finished 10th last season but there’s excitement building around new signing Mosese Tuipulotu, brother of Scotland centre Sione, from the Waratahs.

Former Scotland hooker Fraser Brown said: “Game time at the Waratahs has been limited, with only a handful of appearances over the last few years.

“He is still young though (23), and if his brother is anything to go by, has a bucketload of potential.

“The hope from an Edinburgh point of view is that he hits the ground running and develops into a match-winner like Sione.”

Leinster

Leinster will hope 57-cap New Zealand star Barrett’s signing is the difference maker to end their three-season trophy hiatus after falling short in the URC and Champions Cup in recent years.

Resting players during knockout games in this competition and prioritising Europe has repeatedly come back to haunt them meaning they may opt for a different approach this term.

Ulster

Ulster finished sixth last season before losing to Leinster in the quarter-finals and will want to make their mark from the off.

South Africa Sevens flyer Werner Kok provides deadly pace and there’ll be excitement around Kiwi fly-half Aidan Morgan after his move from the Hurricanes to replace Billy Burns.

Simon Zebo, Joey Carbery and Snyman are the big names that have departed last season’s regular season top spot Munster but fly-half Burns has joined from Ulster.

Connacht

Piers O’Conor’s move to Connacht from Bristol is a statement signing with the centre having made 137 top flight appearances in England.

He’ll hope to wrestle back momentum for Peter Wilkins’ side after their 11th place finish.

Bulls

The Bulls’ task of going one better than last year has been made increasingly harder due to the loss of star winger Kurt Lee-Arendse, as he heads to Japan.

Head coach Jake White said: “We have to find a way to keep players here in South Africa otherwise all our best players will move overseas.”

Stormers

The Stormers, URC winners in 2022/23, finished fifth last season before being beaten in the last eight by Glasgow. Springbok prop Steven Kitshoff has returned from Ulster and former Exeter Chiefs back row Dave Ewers has joined.

Sharks

Challenge Cup winners the Sharks have signed wrecking ball centre Andre Esterhuizen from Harlequins and formidable prop Trevor Nyakane from Racing 92 alongside superstar Kolisi in a bid to make amends for last season’s domestic shortcomings, finishing 14th.

Lions

The Lions have brought in prop Juan Schoeman from Bath but look the weakest out of the South African teams, while basement side Zebre are streaks behind their Italian rivals Benetton, seemingly unable to attract the same calibre of player.