Leigh Halfpenny will be wearing a Scarlets shirt this season, much to the disappointment of his former region, the Cardiff Blues. Robin Davey believes his choice should be respected and that any draft system – for both older and younger players – would be a mistake. It’s August and it’s holiday time for many, so that means it’s the silly season when it comes to news – and rugby is no different. Hot topic this week is the draft system and whether it’s a good idea or not. Not a silly subject for sure, but silly thinking it could work in Wales.

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.

James Hook is back in Welsh rugby – older, wiser, and wetter than before. Owen Morgan was at the Brewery Field where Ospreys fans raised a glass in pre-season appreciation. At precisely 8.39pm on a rain-lashed Bridgend evening, one of the prodigal sons of Welsh rugby made his return to home soil, or, should I say, home mud. There may not have been a fatted calf prepared for James Hook’s return on Friday, but the burger stalls were certainly doing a brisk trade as fans tried to seek shelter and take their mind of the awful August weather.

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.

The Ospreys are to offer free tickets to compensate for the loss of a home match in the new expanded Guinness Pro14. Members who bought season tickets for the new campaign on the basis of 11 Pro12 home games as usual in the old format, will now only have 10 home games this season in the two conference set-up. To make up for the loss of a fixture they have already paid for, fans will be offered two complimentary tickets to bring friends and family to a home match of their choice.

Rhys Webb has admitted it is time for Wales to start winning again this season. The Ospreys scrum-half is unlikely to return when the campaign starts next month, but when his extended leave is over following Lions duty in New Zealand, Webb is clearly anxious to make a mark. It will be approaching five years since Wales last won a Six Nations trophy or Triple Crown when the season begins – and although Wales beat South Africa last autumn, it is nine years since Warren Gatland’s team beat Australia and 64 since the last victory over New Zealand.

Rhys Webb has admitted it is time for Wales to start winning again this season. The Ospreys scrum-half is unlikely to return when the campaign starts next month, but when his extended leave is over following Lions duty in New Zealand, Webb is clearly anxious to make a mark. It will be approaching five years since Wales last won a Six Nations trophy or Triple Crown when the season begins – and although Wales beat South Africa last autumn, it is nine years since Warren Gatland’s team beat Australia and 64 since the last victory over New Zealand.

The Guinness Pro 14 is coming your way. Phil Bennett welcomes the expansion but says the B-listers have it easy compared to Conference A and worries for the South Africans when they head a long way from home. The Scarlets were envied as Guinness Pro12 champions last season – and the jealousies will only have increased in Wales after the splitting of the new Pro 14. The two Conferences are meant to be equal, but if you gaze at the lists of Zebras, Cheetahs, Dragons and Kings, you’ll be reminded of George Orwell’s quote that some animals are more equal than others. Conference B is aptly named, as it’s definitely somewhere behind Conference A.

The countdown to the new rugby season has begun. The Guinness Pro12 has become the Pro14, Leigh Halfpenny has joined the Scarlets, and the other regions are flexing whatever muscle they can muster. Geraint Powell casts a beady eye over the goings-on and says this will be a season of signs of what is to follow. Make no mistake, 2017-18 will be a pivotal season in Welsh rugby. Watch very closely, indeed, everything that the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) does or does not do.

Tournament organisers have confirmed that two South African teams will expand the Guinness Pro12 into a Pro14 this season – with the competition split into two conferences. The Cheetahs, based in Bloemfontein, and the Southern Kings of Port Elizabeth are moving in, having been cut from Super Rugby earlier this year. It means two conferences of seven teams, with the four Welsh regions split into either table.

With the winds of change blowing through Welsh rugby this summer, there is now only one region left who carry a geographical label – the Cardiff Blues. Derek Redwood argues it should stay that way and any attempt to drop ‘Cardiff’ would be a mistake. There has been a lot of speculation recently about the possibility of dropping the Cardiff name as part of the need to embrace a wider geographical area for regional rugby. I ask myself why that should be either desirable or necessary? I was born in Cardiff, grew up in Cardiff and still live in Cardiff. I went to primary school in Cardiff and high school in Cardiff. My first job was in Cardiff and my next job was in Cardiff and now I run a business in Cardiff.