It will be a season of transition at Cardiff Blues, no longer able to call on Sam Warburton and no longer coached by Danny Wilson. Robin Davey suggests, however, that their upward trend may well continue after some notable recruits and an increasing strength in key positions. Cardiff Blues finally delivered last season, when, after years in the wilderness, they ended the season in a blaze of glory by winning the European Challenge Cup final. The challenge for the new season will be to build on that, particularly in the Guinness Pro 14. And new head coach John Mulvihill admits expectations will be high as a result of their European success.

Having recently looked at the Principality Premiership, Geraint Powell turns his attention to the survivors of the great 2003 Welsh rugby shake-up, the regions. These like to consider themselves as independent business operations. How’s trade? “Project Reset”. Two words that send a shudder down the spines of those who want to forever remain with the non-aligned April 2003 fudge without the requisite never ending evolution/modernisation. This is compounded by ill-advised fixed term “cliff edge” agreements between the WRU and the regions, an excuse to stand still for periods of five to six years.

The Scarlets will begin their Heineken Champions Cup campaign against last year’s beaten finalists Racing 92 at Parc y Scarlets. Wayne Pivac has one last opportunity to add European silverware to the Guinness PRO12 title he won in 2017 before he takes over as Wales head coach after the World Cup. Their Pool 4 campaign begins on Saturday 13 October before a six day turnaround to face two-time champions Leicester Tigers.

Gethin Jenkins will dip his toe into the coaching pool next month when the Ospreys face the Scarlets in the Celtic Cup – the new shadow tournament for the Guinness Pro 14 designed primarily for under 23 players. The Cardiff Blues prop – Wales’ most capped player – will be the defence coach for the Blues’ youngsters. It’s a first venture into coaching for the Lions forward, who will be 38 in November, but still remains committed to at least one more season as a Blues player.

The Guinness Pro14 fixtures are out and with an August start date Robin Davey is already considering how the first weekend might shape up for the four regions after a long, hot summer. It’s been a blisteringly hot summer and the nation’s top rugby players have needed hosing down as they step up training for the new season which actually starts this month. The pre-season friendlies are about to get under way and pretty soon the heat will be turned on the regions and their leading players in what is the last season before the World Cup.

Most of Welsh rugby’s 2018-19 fixture list is out and dates in the diary have been ringed. What hasn’t happened, argues Geraint Powell, is any real attempt to fit the various tiers together so that it all makes sense. Nothing illustrates the disjointed nature of the regional tier of Welsh professional rugby more than the annual release of the Pro14 fixtures. Regional rugby is a complete package, always has been and always will be if you want to obtain most of the resource concentration synergies in relation to increased earning and more efficient expenditure. Tying everything together at the end is where the biggest benefits accrue.

There will be an explosive start to the Guinness PRO14 season when the reigning European Rugby Challenge Cup champions Cardiff Blues host the Champions Cup and PRO14 winners Leinster. The Friday night shoot-out at the Arms Park on 31 August will give new Blues coach John Mulvihill the toughest of starts, but with Leinster unlikely to have their leading Irish internationals available so early in the season it might be a slightly easier task than later in the campaign.

If you think Gareth Southgate has had to work under intense pressure at the football World Cup, just imagine how Gareth Baber has been feeling of late as he counts down to the days to the Rugby World Cup Sevens in San Francisco later this month (20-22 July).

Experienced Wales Rugby League Students player Dafydd Hellard has been forced to withdraw from from next week’s Home International tournament at Sardis Road in Pontypridd as he’s receiving chemotherapy for testicular cancer. The 33-year old mature student from Treharris, represented Wales Students in last year’s World Cup.

Cardiff Blues coach John Mulvihill is planning to use Samu Manoa and Nick Williams as a 40-stones twin-turbo power boost next season. Having signed 20-stone USA No.8 Manoa from Toulon for the new season, the new Blues coach intends to rotate his physical threat with that of fellow bruising No.8 Nick Williams. They may have a combined age of 67 – Manoa is 33 and Williams turns 35 in December – but Mulvihill believes the threat they can carry between them for 80 minutes will prove a fearful proposition for opponents in the Guinness Pro14 and European Champions Cup next season.

Paul John is a Welsh coach with World Cup glory on his rugby curriculum vitae. The former scrum-half won 10 Test caps for his country and became a Pontypridd legend for his exploits at Sardis Road during a phenomenal playing career. John has since gone on to become a fine coach, working with Pontypridd, Cardiff Blues and having a long stint in charge of Wales Sevens before moving on to his current role with Hong Kong Sevens.

Cardiff Blues have made their second signing in a week by recruiting Jason Harries from Edinburgh. The former Wales Under-18s, 20s and Sevens international follows the switch of tight-head prop Dmitri Arhip from the Ospreys. Harries was signed by Richard Cockerill last summer on a one-year contract, having scored 22 tries in 45 appearances for London Scottish.