Ospreys stalwart Joe Bearman is one of seven players who are leaving the region at the end of this season. Bearman – who is joining ambitious Merthyr – will be joined through the exit door by Tyler Ardron, Josh Matavesi, Sam Underhill, Tom Grabham, Jonathan Spratt and Dan Suter. Underhill had already declared he was moving to Bath next season to improve his England ambitions, whilst Matavesi had also chosen to switch to the Aviva Premiership by joining Newcastle Falcons.

Steve Tandy insists the Ospreys can upset the odds and make the Guinness Pro12 final, despite their record defeat to the Scarlets and a major injury concern over Dan Biggar. Tandy saw his team hammered 40-17 at Parc y Scarlets on Saturday – their fifth defeat in six matches – and they will now travel to face Munster on May 20 in their semi-final.

Steve Tandy has promised his Ospreys team can ruin Liam Williams’ Scarlets farewell on Saturday by securing their place in the Guinness Pro 12 play-offs. The Ospreys travel to Parc y Scarlets on the final day of the regular season looking to join their neighbours in the knockout stages. Wales full-back and Lions tourist Williams will make his final appearance at his home ground ahead of his summer move to Saracens.

The Ospreys have regularly been able to boss the West Wales derby. But with the Guinness Pro12 play-offs looming, Gareth Hughes reckons the Scarlets are now in the driving seat. On Saturday at Parc y Scarlets, arguably one of the biggest games in Welsh rugby for a decade will take place, with both sides playing for play-off places, to decide the 3rd and 4th positions in the Pro12. The Scarlets have turned their home ground into a fortress this season and with a potential full house will use that to their advantage. The Ospreys beat much-fancied Ulster last week, ending a run of defeats that threatened to derail their season.

Just as those who wanted to do an Irish jig on the grave of Welsh regional rugby were reaching for their dancing shoes, two of them go and make the Pro12 play-offs. Not only that, says Robin Davey, but there are other reasons to be cheerful. It seems the much-heralded demise of the Welsh regions was something of a damp squib, after all. Just at the time when most, if not all, the pundits were fearful of where Welsh rugby was going – amid the sound and fury of the English and French scattering all before them – the Welsh regions have been staging something of a revival.

Wayne Pivac says he does not care who the Scarlets play in their Guinness Pro12 play-off semi-final. The head coach saw his team clinch their top four place with a convincing 3-8 victory at Connacht on Saturday night. The victory followed the Ospreys’ 24-10 win at home to Ulster and it means two Welsh sides have made the play-offs for the first time.

The Ospreys stopped the rot with a 24-10 victory over Ulster that puts them firmly back on course to make the Guinness Pro12 play-offs. After four straight defeats in all competitions, Steve Tandy’s side held off a second-half fightback from Ulster.

The Ospreys’ mental frailty can be used against them by Ulster this weekend, says the Irish province’s director of rugby Les Kiss. Saturday’s showdown at the Liberty Stadium will have a crucial bearing on the final shake-up for Guinness Pro12 play-off places, with the Ospreys currently sitting in fourth spot – just a point above Ulster.

Judgement Day offered points and plaudits for the Cardiff Blues and the Scarlets. WRU Finals Day underlined the progress made by RGC. But Geraint Powell says other results – the financial ones – point to a Welsh rugby structure that no longer adds up. Spring is always a difficult season for the non-Test tier of professional rugby in Wales, the time of year when the hybrid regions/”super” clubs are compelled by UK company law to publicly file/disclose their financial performances for the preceding rugby season.

Danny Wilson paid tribute to his Cardiff Blues side for the battering they gave the Ospreys in their 35-17 derby demolition at the Principality Stadium on Saturday. The Blues coach saw his team score five tries but it was the bullying nature of their first victory over their rivals for seven years that really impressed him. “We were certainly the mote physical of the two sides,” said Wilson.

Cardiff Blues scrum-half Lloyd Williams reckons a wounded Ospreys side will be dangerous opposition when the two teams lock horns at Judgement Day V on Saturday. Steve Tandy’s men have hit a stumbling block in their search for a play-off place, losing their last three matches to Benetton Treviso, Stade Francais and Leinster.

Cardiff Blues outside-half Gareth Anscombe says the Ospreys will prove a tough test when the two sides do battle in Judgement Day V at Principality Stadium on Saturday. The New Zealand-born Wales international hailed the quality of the Swansea-based side and believes the Blues will have to work hard to come out on top. He said: “They have a monstrous pack, probably one of the biggest in the competition. They know what their game is about and we have a massive challenge to compete with them.