The last threads of the rugby season are about to be tied up, with three of the four regions still having key matches remaining. The Dragons, though, are already under pressure to deliver from the opening week of next season, says Robin Davey. A runners-up finish for Wales in the Six Nations, with three of the four regions still left with something to play for in the closing weeks of the season – not exactly vintage, perhaps, but reasonably successful all the same. A Wales squad, minus many leading players who have been rested, head off to North America where they face South Africa in a fairly odd arrangement, then travel to Argentina where they will play two Tests.

Dafydd Howells wants to re-ignite his international ambitions after joining the Dragons from the Ospreys on a two-year contract. Howells, 23, played 42 times for the Ospreys, scoring 12 tries over the last five seasons and but joins the Dragons after recent shoulder problems. The wing – who was capped by Wales as an 18-year-old on the 2013 tour to Japan – said: “I’m hoping I can get going next season, enjoy the environment at the Dragons and push on as I still have Wales ambitions.” The Ospreys have confirmed that a total of 15 players, including Howells, are leaving the region at the end of the season.

Gareth Anscombe has paid tribute to Dan Biggar as the two Wales No.10s go their separate ways next season. Arsene Wenger’s farewell at Old Trafford was not the only meeting of old foes turned friends at the weekend. While the Arsenal manager shook hands and smiled with Jose Mourinho and Sir Alex Ferguson for one last time, Anscombe and Biggar did the same at the Principality Stadium at the end of Judgement Day.

The Ospreys’ derby clash against Cardiff Blues as one half of Judgement Day will offer a chance for revenge for last season as well as an early judgement on the work of Allen Clarke. Graham Thomas looks at the Ospreys’ new permanent head coach, his signing of George North, and the course they have set as they bid to recover their status as Wales’ top region. The first striking thing about Allen Clarke – newly confirmed as the Ospreys’ permanent head coach – is his size, or lack of. The record books listed him as on the small side of scales when it comes to hookers who played international rugby, with a fighting weight of only 14 stones, packed into a 5ft 9in frame.

Judgement Day weekend has arrived, a near end-of-season stock take and accounting both on and off the pitch. Geraint Powell casts his eye over the form of the four teams and the issue of geography in an expanding league. The geographical horizon of Welsh professional regional rugby suddenly contracts this weekend. The regular fans of the four southern Rugby Service Agreement regional franchises, together with occasional fans, neutrals from across the club game, and occasion eventers, will converge on the Principality Stadium in Cardiff for Judgement Day VI’s domestic double-header and the conclusion of the Guinness Pro14 regular season.

Allen Clarke has been confirmed as the Ospreys’ new permanent head coach – a move first revealed by Dai Sport on April 6. Clarke has been rewarded for his impressive short spell as interim head coach by being handed a three-year contract at the Liberty Stadium. The Northern Irishman took over at the Swansea-based region in January after Steve Tandy was sacked in what most considered would be a temporary role, while other candidates were considered.

Danny Wilson has called on his Cardiff Blues to back up their European Champions Cup qualification by reaching the final of the Challenge Cup. The Blues head coach has achieved the first target of guiding the region back into Europe’s top tournament next season.

George North is heading back to Wales and will wear scarlet, black, blue, or black and red next season. No-one seems to know yet, least of all those marketing folk aiming to shift some extra replica jerseys this summer. Robin Davey says it’s time for George to put his finger on the map. The season has little more than a month to run, yet we still don’t know where star winger George North is heading on his return to Wales this summer. Even more to the point, does North himself know? It’s now five months since the Welsh Rugby Union announced that North would be coming back to Wales on a national dual contract after spending the last five years at Northampton.

The Ospreys are considering upgrading Allen Clarke and making him their permanent head coach. Northern Irishman Clarke has been in charge at the region as interim coach since the departure of Steve Tandy in January. It was believed that the former Ulster and Ireland U20 coach would relinquish the position at the end of the season and return to his previous role as forwards coach.

Justin Tipuric signed off for the Ospreys before heading Down Under to play for Wales Sevens at the Commonwealth Games with a performance that his interim head coach described as “world class”. The Wales and British & Irish Lions back row man was instrumental in the Ospreys beating Leinster for the first time since April, 2014, as he made one try, scored the bonus-point try and carried off the man of the match award in the 32-18 triumph. “I thought Justin was world class. You can see why the sevens have been after him because his touches on the ball, blind passes and energy around the field were simply world class,” said Ospreys interim head coach Allen Clarke.

Alun Wyn Jones has committed his future to the game in Wales after re-signing his National Dual Contract (NDC) to remain at his home Region, the Ospreys. The 32-year-old, capped 116 times by Wales (plus nine British & Irish Lions caps), is in his 13th season with the Ospreys – having come through the development pathway to become joint second in the all-time list of appearances on 223, 110 of them as captain. Jones, who toured with the British & Irish Lions for a third time last summer and led his country in the recent Under Armour Series, first signed an NDC in March 2015 and re-signed in January 2016.

Wales and Ospreys wing Eli Walker has retired from rugby at the age of 25 after failing to recover from a back injury. Walker burst on to the regional scene as a teenager as quickly established himself as one of the most exciting runners in the Welsh game. But he has spent the last year trying to return to fitness after surgery, but has opted to call it a day after taking the advice from medical specialists.