The Guinness Pro 14 returns this weekend, with the Ospreys facing a tough trip away to champions Leinster on Friday night. If you’re an Ospreys fan – or even if not – here’s your chance to get on board with the region by winning some fantastic Ospreys gear, courtesy of Canterbury, official supplier to the Ospreys.

While Wales take on Australia this weekend, the four Welsh regions take a breather for the next three weeks until the Guinness Pro 14 resumes. Geraint Powell takes the temperature of the four of them and says all need to warm up quickly when the action resumes. The first block of the Welsh regional rugby season is over. The first eight rounds of the Guinness Pro14 and two rounds in Europe have been completed and the best Welsh rugby players are now in Test camp with Warren Gatland.

The Ospreys have turned to teenager Harri Morgan and hope he will be inspired before his home town crowd when they host Connacht at Bridgend on Friday night. It will be the 18-year-old’s first full game after he made debut off the bench in the defeat to Worcester Warriors last week. That was in the European Challenge Cup, so the Connacht clash will also be a Guinness Pro 14 first appearance for Morgan at the Brewery Field, when he began his career with the Ravens.

Scott Williams is close to a comeback from the hamstring injury that put him out of the Wales squad for the autumn Tests. But in the meantime the Ospreys centre is busying himself with his other sporting love – rallying, as owner of the Scott Williams Motorsport fleet. Williams has not played since early September when he limped off during his region’s victory over the Cheetahs.

Scott Williams gave his stunning new Escort Mk2 its competition debut on the Fairfield Merlin Stages Rally today, finishing the event in a flying 16th place overall – out of 70 starters. The immaculate car is the latest addition to the Scott Williams Motorsport fleet, with the west Wales team showcasing its great engineering talents by building it in one week! The Osprey’s centre, who is recovering from a torn hamstring, is a very accomplished rally driver and was inch perfect around the Welsh Motorsports Centre at Pembrey, putting on a spectacular display in the powerful red left-hand drive machine.

Wales new boy Luke Morgan has admitted his switch from Sevens rugby to 15-a-side had exceeded his expectations. The Ospreys wing was one of two uncapped players named in coach Warren Gatland’s squad for the autumn internationals. Leicester Tigers wing Jonah Holmes has made 15 appearances so far this season and last, but Morgan has only played five games for his region since switching from the Wales Sevens squad.

George North has earned the praise of his Ospreys coach Allen Clarke and his reward is likely to be a week off. North scored one of his region’s four tries as they comfortably beat Pau 27-0 at the Liberty Stadium in their opening European Challenge Cup tie. The Wales wing has now scored five tries in six matches this season, but appears set to be rested for their next tie away to Worcester next Saturday.

It’s the pressing issue of our time. . . Europe and the question of whether the Scarlets and the Cardiff Blues are heading for a soft or hard pool stage when the Heineken Champions Cup kicks-off this weekend. Robin Davey reckons the Scarlets will go deeper into the tournament, with the Ospreys to do likewise in the Challenge Cup, whilst the Dragons have to show signs of improvement. Europe is the big arena in more ways than one, but on the rugby front the Scarlets and Cardiff Blues head into Heineken Champions Cup action this weekend while for the Ospreys and Dragons it’s the Challenge Cup competition. The Scarlets have the European pedigree, they are more than used to playing in the top tier and reached the semi-final stage last season, while for the Blues it’s a welcome return to the main event.

Wayne Pivac has told his Scarlets players that another European adventure this season must include a better start than a year ago. The region begin their Heineken Champions campaign at home to Racing 92 on Saturday, fresh from their 20-17 victory over the Ospreys last weekend. A years ago, Pivac’s team suffered back-to-back defeats at the start of Europe’s pool stages – losing narrowly at Toulon and then at home to Bath, before going on to win five straight matches on their way to the semi-final where they eventually fell to champions Leinster.

Wayne Pivac has warned his Scarlets team the Ospreys are no longer the soft touch of previous seasons. As the two rivals meet on Saturday in the first Guinness Pro14 Welsh derby of the season, the Scarlets coach is convinced the opponents he knows best are now on the up. The Scarlets did the double over their neighbours last season and Pivac’s side have only lost one of their last five matches between the teams.

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.