The Six Nations has been launched in London, but Wales’ own launch pad looks distinctly wobbly with injury worries weighing them down. Robin Davey takes the body count but suggests the Scarlets can come to the rescue. The mood around Wales’ Six Nations hopes matched the dismal weather on Wednesday when it was revealed that Liam Williams is set to miss next week’s opener against Scotland, and could even be out of the whole tournament. He suffered a recurrence of the abdominal problem with his club Saracens at the weekend, one which had already kept him out for two months.

Former England centre Brad Barritt has warned the Ospreys that Saracens intend to elbow them aside this weekend as they defend their European crown. Anything less than victory for Sarries will end their hopes of emulating Toulon by winning a third successive trophy, while the Ospreys also need a win to keep alive their hopes of progress. Both clubs have won twice and lost twice in Pool Two, but the Ospreys are in second spot behind leaders Clermont Auvergne thanks to the bonus points earned in back-to-back victories over Northampton.

Steve Hansen has refused to take the bait set for him to refuel his long-running feud with Warren Gatland. The two coaches clashed repeatedly during the Lions tour of New Zealand and both have kept the bad blood simmering with barbs directed at the other in the past few weeks. After Gatland claimed he hated the summer Lions series, All Blacks coach Hansen suggested the Wales coach should quit if he no longer enjoys what he is doing.

What odds on an Ospreys win at Saracens this weekend? It’s a bit of a long-shot according to most bookies. On their return to the Champions Cup this season the Welsh region head to London to face the reigning champions in a game in which the home side are 1/25 on to win and you can get 20/1 on an Ospreys triumph.

The last thing Warren Gatland wanted to see with the 2017 Under Armour Series less than a month away was George North being helped off the pitch at Franklin’s Gardens. The Northampton Saints wing went down twice in the space of two minutes in the first half of his side’s Champions Cup clash with reigning champions Saracens with a left knee injury.

Leigh Halfpenny is getting ready to show Toulon what they’re now missing since he joined the Scarlets. But with Wales’ autumn Test series fast approaching, Peter Jackson says it’s time for Warren Gatland to scrutinise Halfpenny’s form rather than his historic contribution. Leigh Halfpenny’s used to be the first name on the Wales team-sheet and not just because they named it back to front instead of the other way round. The question to be answered by the end of the month is whether he reappears in the starting XV by the time the Wallabies land at their customary staging-post beside the Taff after the migratory flight north. For the first time in a long while, Halfpenny cannot be sure on that score, even less so as to whether it will be at full-back, on the wing or as emergency cover on the touchline.

Scarlets forward Tadhg Beirne wants to play for Ireland and admits he has to go home to fulfil that ambition. Welsh players who cross borders face the same dilemma, but Robin Davey believes such demands are outmoded and have no place in the modern sporting era. Yet again the thorny subject of player qualification has reared its head, this time the case of Irish lock Tadhg Beirne hitting the headlines. He really blossomed under the tutelage of the Scarlets last season, into an international prospect, after being rejected by the Irish provinces.

In part two of Dai Sport’s regional health check ahead of the new rugby season, Geraint Powell puts his stethoscope next to the heart of the Scarlets to determine whether or not they can maintain the healthy beat of last season. If the Ospreys region has been mostly confined to the shadows this summer (http://www.dai-sport.com/ospreys-ready-fly-back-shadows/), the Scarlets region has inevitably been in the limelight as a result of their scintillating romp to the Guinness Pro12 title last season with comfortable play-off wins in Dublin over Leinster (at the RDS) and Munster (at the Aviva). As if that was not enough to secure media attention, to compensate for the loss of Liam Williams to Saracens they then secured the services of the somewhat stranded Leigh Halfpenny as Williams’ replacement on a dual central contract, 60% funded by the Welsh Rugby Union. If any team can rediscover Halfpenny’s early career attacking mojo, it will be the Scarlets.

In part two of Dai Sport’s regional health check ahead of the new rugby season, Geraint Powell puts his stethoscope next to the heart of the Scarlets to determine whether or not they can maintain the healthy beat of last season. If the Ospreys region has been mostly confined to the shadows this summer (http://www.dai-sport.com/ospreys-ready-fly-back-shadows/), the Scarlets region has inevitably been in the limelight as a result of their scintillating romp to the Guinness Pro12 title last season with comfortable play-off wins in Dublin over Leinster (at the RDS) and Munster (at the Aviva). As if that was not enough to secure media attention, to compensate for the loss of Liam Williams to Saracens they then secured the services of the somewhat stranded Leigh Halfpenny as Williams’ replacement on a dual central contract, 60% funded by the Welsh Rugby Union. If any team can rediscover Halfpenny’s early career attacking mojo, it will be the Scarlets.

The Ospreys have rarely flown under the radar, but change at the other three regions has left them undetected so far this summer, says Geraint Powell. When the season starts, though, that could all change. The Ospeys, without any shadow of a doubt, have been the one real success story in the post-2003 Welsh regional rugby era. A whole far greater than the sum of Swansea and Neath, and I don’t just mean replica shirt sales. Ospreylia. “The one true region”, spreading 37 miles from east to west and for 24 miles from its northern-most point to the southern coastline. Ospreylia has a total boundary of 151 miles, according to the Ordnance Survey map once commissioned. And usually financially stable as a business, at least relative to the heavily loss making Scarlets and Blues.

The grass has been cut, the lines have been painted, and the pre-season friendlies are up and running as the new rugby season beckons. Robin Davey insists there’s much to get excited about. It’s all systems go, at last – the new Guinness Pro 14 League fixtures are out, major pre-season friendlies start this weekend and the countdown is on for the start of what promises to be an exciting new season. The Scarlets will defend the title they won so gloriously last season, the Ospreys look to rediscover the form they lost so dramatically, Cardiff Blues will aim to prove the doubters wrong and the Dragons will finally seek to end a shocking run under the management of the Welsh Rugby Union.

The grass has been cut, the lines have been painted, and the pre-season friendlies are up and running as the new rugby season beckons. Robin Davey insists there’s much to get excited about. It’s all systems go, at last – the new Guinness Pro 14 League fixtures are out, major pre-season friendlies start this weekend and the countdown is on for the start of what promises to be an exciting new season. The Scarlets will defend the title they won so gloriously last season, the Ospreys look to rediscover the form they lost so dramatically, Cardiff Blues will aim to prove the doubters wrong and the Dragons will finally seek to end a shocking run under the management of the Welsh Rugby Union.