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.

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.