Samu Manoa will be entering a blood-thirsty French battle ground when he makes his Cardiff Blues debut this weekend – but only from the replacements’ bench. The American back rower of Tongan descent will make his long-awaited first appearance for the Blues away to Lyon in the opening round of the Heineken Champions Cup on Sunday if he is sent on. Blues coach John Mulvihill had claimed earlier in the week that Manoa would be starting the game, but has changed his mind and instead drafted his new signing onto the bench.

Bernard Jackman has pleaded with long-suffering Dragons fans for more of their deep supplies of patience as their winless streak in all-Welsh matches continues. The Dragons’ long wait for a regional derby win in the Guinness Pro 14 continues as they were stung by a second half revival by the Blues at the weekend. Two tries in the first quarter saw the home side race into a 12 point lead, but they were beaten 23-15 in the end as the Blues hit back with two tries in five minutes just after the hour mark.

Ollie Griffiths can make a major statement for Wales inclusion when he faces Ellis Jenkins on Saturday, but he insists that is far from his mind. Instead, the Dragons openside flanker will concentrate on trying to gain a first victory for his team in their derby fixture against the Cardiff Blues since 2014. Griffiths is a rival to Jenkins for the Wales No.7 shirt this season, following the retirement of Sam Warburton. But the former Wales U20 players says Guinness Pro 14 points will be thing uppermost in his mind, rather than impressing Warren Gatland.

It’s derby day in Wales this weekend and Robin Davey is feeling optimistic that all four regions now have sufficient quality to make the outcomes difficult to predict. But he still fancies the Cardiff Blues and the Scarlets. A fairly uneventful start to the Guinness Pro 14 season is about to explode into action with the arrival of two hotly contested derbies on Saturday in front of near full houses. In the west, the Scarlets take on the Ospreys at Parc Y Scarlets on Saturday afternoon and just over two hours later in the east the Dragons face Cardiff Blues at Rodney Parade.

Former Wales scrum-half Richie Rees has told his Cardiff Blues A team they must improve their decision-making after they blew victory against Munster A with one of the strangest calls of the season so far. The Blues A team lost 33-32 at the Arms Park after they were awarded a penalty late in the match, with time to kick for the corner and launch a final attack. Instead, full-back Tom Williams took a 60-metre shot at goal, which fell well short, and the Blues stumbled to their third successive defeat.

Wayne Pivac paid tribute to Jonathan Davies – and others – after the returning cavalry helped the Scarlets up to second place in Conference B of the Guinness Pro14. The Wales centre played his first match back after 10 months out injured and looked as if he had never been away as he scored two tries in the 54-14 thrashing of Southern Kings in Llanelli. Paul Asquith and Ioan Nicholas joined Davies in making their first starts of the season as Pivac refreshed his squad following their defeat to Connacht the previous week.

The Guinness Pro 14 is hardly into autumn and already coaches are chopping and changing their teams. Critics have declared this undermines the tournament. Not so, argues, Harri Morgan who says freedom to select some and rest others actually protects its future. Cast your mind back to the halcyon days spent playing on Championship Manager. The scenario – you’re boss of a newly promoted club, fighting to retain Premier League status. You’ve got Taribo West on a free transfer. That’s not relevant, but you always get Taribo.

John Mulvihill has admitted huge relief at his first win as Cardiff Blues coach after revealing: “We’ve been to hell and back.” After three opening Guinness Pro14 defeats – following no wins in his pre-season matches – the Australian was understandably reassured by his team’s thumping 37-13 victory over Munster at the Arms Park on Friday night. The Blues gained a winning bonus point with four tries on a night when centre Willis Halaholo reminded people why there was excitement at his arrival from New Zealand two years.

John Mulvihill hopes that truth hurts – and that it will be Munster who feel the pain at the Arms Park on Friday night. The Cardiff Blues coach has revealed his players held a “truth session” in the aftermath of their third successive defeat last week. Mulvihill says he was encouraged by the response of his squad to their winless start to the Guinness Pro 14 season and that the frenzy he witnessed in training will be unleashed on their Irish opponents.

John Mulvihill has admitted Cardiff Blues fans are being short-changed following the region’s poor start to the season. The Blues head coach has overseen three straight defeats in the Guinness Pro14, all of which involved the surrender of winning positions. The latest came in Parma on Saturday where despite the perfect preparation of week based in Italy following their loss to Treviso the previous weekend, Mulvilhill’s side crumbled – losing 26-24, having been 21-0 ahead.

Former Wales prop Craig Mitchell has resurfaced at Gallagher Premiership club Newcastle Falcons. The tight-head spent last season at Yorkshire Carnegie in the English Championship after spells at both the Dragons and the Cardiff Blues which appeared to suggest his career was in decline.But Mitchell has impressed the Falcons playing for their reserve side in recent weeks and director of rugby Dean Richards has opted to hand the 32-year-old a three-month deal.

Wales scrum-half Gareth Davies has been accused of “dirty play” by former Ireland international Luke Fitzgerald for allegedly aiming a knee at Leinster’s James Lowe. The incident occured in the first-half of the Scarlets’ thrilling 23-21 victory at home to the Guinness Pro 14 champions on Saturday. New Zealander Lowe scored just before half-time, but as he slid in at the corner he was challenged by a sliding Davies as the players collided.