Warren Gatland has promised to nurse his latest group of youngsters through their four-match summer series and to give some of his more experienced players a “kick up the arse”. Wales head to Twickenham on 22 June to face the world champion Springboks before travelling to Australia for a two-Test series against the Wallabies and a final fixture with Queensland Reds.

At a time when the judgements on Welsh rugby tend mostly to be harsh ones, it would be easy to dismiss this weekend’s Judgement Day as almost an irrelevance when it comes to the business end of the United Rugby Championship. After all, the Ospreys need a series of unlikely and complicated results on the final weekend in order to sneak into the play-offs.

Dewi Lake is aiming to play his part in helping put some joy back into Welsh rugby. It’s been a difficult season for the game in Wales with the Test team suffering a Six Nations whitewash and three of the regions lying in the bottom four of the BKT URC table.

Leinster Rugby v Ospreys, Saturday, 7.35pm. Ospreys coach Toby Booth is calling on his team to draw inspiration from Borussia Dortmund as they take on the Leinster “juggernaut” in Dublin.

Aaron Wainwright insists nothing but victory will be acceptable for Wales in Saturday’s wooden spoon decider against Italy. Wales must win in Cardiff to have any chance of not finishing bottom of the Guinness Six Nations table for a first time since 2003.

Joe Roberts believes Wales will avoid the embarrassment of a Six Nations whitewash this weekend by winning at the final attempt. The centre, who was controversially picked ahead of George North to face France last weekend, is confident Warren Gatland’s misfiring team can beat Italy in Cardiff in the final round of the tournament.

Toby Booth believes the Ospreys can do what no Welsh region has done for six years – make the United Rugby Championship play-offs. Booth’s young team are currently on target to achieve that goal of a top-eight finish.

Adam Beard says Wales can upset the odds and pull of a huge shock by beating Guinness Six Nations title favourites Ireland in Dublin next week. Wales have not won a Six Nations game at the Aviva Stadium since 2012, drawing one and losing four of the subsequent meetings.

Aaron Wainwright has handed Welsh rugby a major pre-Six Nations boost by agreeing a new contract with the Dragons. The Wales back-row forward, who looks set to line up at number eight in next week’s Six Nations clash against Scotland, has agreed what the Dragons described as “a multi-year” deal.

Dafydd Jenkins believes it’s no bad thing that Wales have been written off by many as Six Nations no-hopers. Wales are no better than fifth favourites with most bookmakers for the tournament that starts next week, but the new skipper is unconcerned.

Warren Gatland believes Wales can make a virtue out of a Six Nations squad that is young, raw and still wet behind the ears. The Wales coach reckons the boldness of youth and Welsh players’ earlier exposure to Test rugby than their rivals can all reap rewards in the tournament that begins next week.

Warren Gatland is not only backing Exeter Chiefs lock Dafydd Jenkins to be up to the task of captaining Wales in the Guinness Six Nations, but also to develop into a major player for his country in the build-up to the next World Cup. The 21-year-old Jenkins was named as Wales captain in succession to injury victims Jac Morgan and Dewi Lake, who co-captained Wales at the World Cup in the first half of the season.