Tom Shanklin has called on the Welsh Rugby Union to show some vision and offer some hope for the future after another bleak weekend for the game in Wales. All four Welsh teams lost in the United Rugby Championship over the weekend – the fifth time this season they have suffered a collective whitewash.

Something is stirring in the Dragons’ lair. For too long, the wheezing also-rans among the four Welsh regions – and none have run particularly well in recent years – the Dragons have suddenly found their voice, if not yet, their fire.

Filo Tiatia has been backed as the man to finally plug the leaky Dragons’ defence next season. The former Ospreys ‘Galactico’ is returning to Wales as the defence coach at Dragons RFC.

It doesn’t need a long, hard stare at the United Rugby Championship table to realise it has not been a vintage season for the Scarlets. The most recent Welsh winners of the tournament seven years ago have won just three matches and stand 14th in the 16-team table. On Friday night, the Scarlets are at home to the Sharks, who are also having a season to forget and have won the same meagre number as their hosts.

When Toby Booth was once asked if he felt pressure as a regional rugby coach in Wales, he responded: “Pressure? Pressure’s for tyres! “What I have is a fantastic opportunity.” These days Booth is fully pumped and primed as the biggest – some might say the only – success story in the Welsh game.

Toby Booth believes the victory his Ospreys team earned on South African soil this weekend will earn them what they have craved this season – their opponents’ respect. For the Swansea region, the big goal has been to improve their reputation and regard and they will certainly have done just that with their stunning 27-21 bonus point victory over the DHL Stormers in Cape Town. It goes down as one of the finest results in the Welsh region’s 20-year history, given the Stormers have been BKT URC finalists for the past two years and considering how hard they are to beat in their own back yard.

The player Cardiff Rugby coach Matt Sherratt described as a Rolls Royce will go through the gears for the first time in six months on Friday night. Taulupe Faletau – who broke his arm playing for Wales at the World Cup – will make his comeback in the capital city region’s United Rugby Championship match against Ulster in Belfast.

Welsh regions hoping to assemble squads to become competitive with the best in the United Rugby Championship have been given a sobering reminder of the size of that task after Leinster announced the capture of All Blacks star, Jordie Barrett.

Mark Jones admitted the Ospreys undermined their own cause as they crashed out of the European Challenge Cup after giving up too many penalties to Gloucester. The region’s defence coach praised his team’s commitment during their 23-12 quarter-final defeat to Gloucester at Kingsholm.

Toby Booth insists the Ospreys are determined to stay on a roll by beating Gloucester to make the semi-finals of the European Challenge Cup. Head coach Booth will send his men over the border for an Anglo-Welsh raid, armed with the confidence gained from their 23-15 victory over Sale at Bridgend’s Brewery Field. At a time when there are no other discernible success stories in top level Welsh rugby, the Ospreys are once again the standard-bearer.

Toby Booth believes he can sharpen the Ospreys’ cutting edge next season with the help of new signing Phil Cokanasiga. The younger brother of England wing Joe Cokanasiga, 22-year-old Phil is leaving Leicester Tigers to move to the Swansea region.

They say age is just a number and former Wales prop Craig Mitchell continues to prove it is no obstacle to giving something back to his local club. Having helped Tonna win the WRU National Shield title at Principality Stadium in 2022, and the Division 5 West Central title last year, the 38-year-old is chasing a league and cup double this time, starting with the Division 4 Cup against Newport Saracens in the latest round of #RTP24 finals at Principality Stadium on Saturday, 6 April