After some 12 years as a professional rugby player, Dan Thomas is finally about to experience his first Welsh regional derby. It will be all the more special for the new Cardiff flanker as it will take him down west towards his family roots and back to the club where it all began for him.

Ollie Griffiths, the 29-year-old Wales and Dragons flanker, is set for another period on the sidelines after his region revealed he is undergoing medical treatment for a tumour on his spine. The Dragons have said his condition “requires intervention” and he will be “unavailable for selection for the foreseeable future as he undergoes medical treatment”.

Wales rugby league coach John Kear believes his youthful squad can spark excitement for their forthcoming autumn internationals. Kear has named a 26-man squad that includes 12 uncapped players for the matches against Jamaica and Serbia.

Flanker Alex Callender has been named as the Welsh Rugby Writers’ Association Wales Women’s Player of the Year. Callender, who has been capped 38-times by Wales, was on the shortlist with Wales captain Hannah Jones and GB Seven Olympian Jasmine Joyce.

Dragons coach Dai Flanagan said he was “super proud” of the character his players showed to secure a final play 23-21 URC victory over the Ospreys at Rodney Parade. The game seemed done and dusted when the visitors led 21-13 three minutes from time with their opponents down to 14 men following a yellow card for hooker James Benjamin.

Alex Callender picked up her award as the Welsh Rugby Writers’ Association’s player of the year ahead of Wales’ departure for WXV2 last night to give Ioan Cunningham’s squad another boost ahead of their latest tournament. Callender missed out on Friday’s historic first win over Australia at Rodney Parade as head coach Cunningham continued in his bold bid to grow the strength of his playing pool.  In Callender’s absence it was another back rower, Kate Williams, who stole the show.

Toby Booth insists it will be business as usual for him as he embarks on his fifth and final season as head coach at the Ospreys on Saturday. The Englishman will be leaving at the end of the campaign with Mark Jones stepping up from defence coach, a role which will in turn be filled by club legend Justin Tipuric.

Cardiff head coach Matt Sherratt was upbeat but unsatisfied after seeing his team start their season with a win that became less convincing the nearer they got to the final whistle. The Blue and Blacks kicked-off their season with a bonus-point win over Zebre – their first at the Arms Park this year.

Ioan Cunningham is hoping training with the world champions will help inspire his Wales team to victory over Australia on Friday night. Wales Women host the Aussies at Rodney Parde in a warm-up clash for the WXV2 tournament in South Africa later this month.

As Cardiff kick-off their new season on Friday night, head coach Matt Sherratt insists he will be calling the shots at the Arms Park – not Warren Gatland. With a host of youngsters having been fast-tracked into the Wales squad over the past 12 months, it might be tempting to believe Sherratt is under pressure to accommodate all requests.

The Welsh regions emerge, bleary-eyed, back into the autumn sunshine this weekend but it would be wrong to think they have been in hibernation. According to Dragons head coach Dai Flanagan, it was far more dramatic than that.

For Matt Sherratt, there’s the sense of a new beginning as he embarks on his second season as Cardiff’s head coach. It’s been a summer of major change at the Arms Park both on and off the field and he is hoping that will now extend to his team’s results as they look to turn those narrow defeats into victories – starting with Friday night’s BKT URC opener at home to Zebre Parma.

Leighton Jones has stood down as head coach at Super Rygbi Cymru club Pontypool after just one game of the new season. Tom Hancock has been installed as the interim head coach for this weekend’s game against Bridgend at the Brewery Field. Pooler lost on the opening night of the season when they were beaten at home by reigning Premiership champions Llandovery, 21-18.

Former Scarlets coach and captain Simon Easterby will take over as interim Ireland head coach during Andy Farrell’s time in charge of the British and Irish Lions. Farrell is set to oversee autumn Tests against New Zealand, Argentina, Fiji and Australia in Dublin before temporarily departing his role to lead next year’s Lions tour against the Wallabies.

Owen Watkin is relishing his new found responsibility for club and country as he sets his sights on a major career milestone. The Ospreys centre started both Tests on Wales’ summer tour of Australia to take his tally of caps up to 41 as he took on a key role for Warren Gatland’s team.

New faces Alaw Pyrs, Maisie Davies and Rosie Carr have all held their places in Ioan Cunningham’s Wales squad for the WXV2 tournament in South Africa. The trio made their senior debut appearances in the recent defeat to Scotland, but have stayed in a new-look squad to compete in South Africa at the end of September.

It’s a feature of Tongan rugby players that they all claim to be related to someone better known and Carwyn Tuipulotu was never going to buck that trend. The South Sea Islanders have been an integral part of the Welsh rugby scene for over 30 years and it appears they all belong to one huge extended family.

Newport Rugby Club have seen plenty of changes in Welsh rugby through their long and distinguished history, so it might be fitting that their 150th anniversary season brings a new direction. On Saturday, Newport host Bridgend on the first weekend of the inaugural Super Rygbi Cymru tournament.

Taulupe Faletau is not ready to give up on his dream of once again playing for Wales and is targeting a return to action in the United Rugby Championship with Cardiff at the end of October. That would give him an outside shot of convincing Warren Gatland he is ready to return to the Test arena and add to his 104 Welsh caps in the Autumn Nations Series.

Ioan Cunningam is choosing to look on the bright side even though his Wales women’s team have dropped to 10th in the latest World Rugby rankings after losing 40-14 to Scotland last weekend. That makes Wales the lowest ranked team in the Six Nations, with both Ireland and Italy having moved above them.