Scarlets have added to their squad with the signing of Welsh-qualified back Blair Murray from New Zealand provincial side Canterbury. The 22-year-old speedster, who can operate on the wing, full-back or at fly-half, scored seven tries in seven appearances during last year’s Bunnings NPC campaign.

Flanker Dan Thomas has ended his seven-year spell at Bristol by joining Cardiff. Thomas, 30, made 144 appearances for the Bears but now follows fellow Welshman Callum Sheedy in moving from Ashton Gate to Cardiff Arms Park ahead of the 2024-25 season.

A strong Welsh input means Gloucester-Hartpury will defend their Allianz Women’s Premiership title against Bristol Bears on Saturday 22 June after the two west country rivals emerged triumphant at the semi-final stage last weekend. The reigning champions had four tries from their Welsh stars to thank for their 50-19 victory over Exeter Chief, while the Bears made history by becoming the first team to win away from home in the semi-finals to reach their first final thanks to a 29-21 triumph at Saracens – the team that had beaten them in the Allianz Premiership Cup final earlier in the season.

Dwayne Peel believes new signing Henry Thomas can help give the Scarlets the hard edge that has gone missing. The Wales prop, who has been named in Warren Gatland’s squad for this month’s Test against South Africa and the tour of Australia, will link up with the Scarlets ahead of the 2024-25 season.

Former Wales rugby captain Ken Owens has joined the board of Cardiff Dragons. Owens – who retired in April of this year after a celebrated 18-year professional career – has become a non-executive director at the club.

South Africa captain Siya Kolisi is one 12 players from the matchday 23 who won the World Cup last year who will not be considered for the one-off Test against Wales at Twickenham on June 22. Just 11 of the side that edged New Zealand 12-11 at the Stade de France in October will be available after injuries, club commitments and retirement ruled out the other 12.

Justin Tipuric admitted the Ospreys were “ground down” by Munster after the only Welsh team to make the knockout stages of the United Rugby Championship fell to a 23-7 defeat in Limerick. The former Wales star captained an Ospreys team who put up an admirable showing against the champions, without ever looking likely to make it into the last four.

Toby Booth looks the kind of bloke who is not easily intimidated, and he will need all that defiance, and more, at Thomond Park in Limerick on Friday night. The Ospreys coach has also shown he knows how to defy the odds, which is why it is his team who are opponents for Munster in the first of the United Rugby Championship quarter-finals.

“Change” is the mantra of Keir Starmer and the Labour Party and it might equally be the slogan adopted by Warren Gatland this summer. Only, it’s not 14 years of Conservative government the Wales coach is trying to overhaul, but 14 Tests over the past 10 months.

Warren Gatland is relishing seeing uncapped Gloucester back Josh Hathaway’s potential at first hand after naming him in the Wales squad for summer Tests against South Africa and Australia. Aberystwyth-born Hathaway, who has represented Wales and England at under-20 level, offers options at full-back and wing for head coach Gatland.

Warren Gatland has promised to nurse his latest group of youngsters through their four-match summer series and to give some of his more experienced players a “kick up the arse”. Wales head to Twickenham on 22 June to face the world champion Springboks before travelling to Australia for a two-Test series against the Wallabies and a final fixture with Queensland Reds.

Toby Booth says his Ospreys will be taking on the best team in the URC when they face Munster at Limerick’s Thomond Park in Friday’s opening quarter-final. Booth’s side defied the odds to secure the final spot in the play-offs with a 33-29 bonus point victory over Cardiff on Judgement Day, after a succession of other results had gone their way over the weekend.

Theo Cabango is hoping lightning can strike twice for his family at Cardiff City Stadium, although this time in reverse. The Cardiff Rugby wing will be following in the footsteps of his older brother, Ben, by playing at the football venue at Judgement Day on Saturday 1 June, when he hopes to help his side beat the Ospreys.

It’s Judgement Day for the Ospreys in more ways than one on Saturday and the equation is simple, yet also complicated. Their own objective is clear. To have any chance of making the URC play-offs, they have to secure a bonus point victory against Cardiff at the Cardiff City Stadium in the second game of the double-header.

Former Wales captain Lloyd White believes the revamped rugby league structure in Wales can tempt plenty of new players from rugby union. The newly-titled JES Group Rugby League Conference kicks off across Wales this weekend in a major step forward for the 13-man code.

Rey Lee-Lo has been hailed as one of Welsh rugby’s greatest ever overseas imports as he heads into Judgement Day continuing to defy Old Father Time. The Samoan international is coming to the end of his ninth season with Cardiff, having joined from the Hurricanes of New Zealand in 2015.

Former Lions and Wales hooker Richard Hibbard insists the Wales No.2 shirt will be up for grabs when some of the front row contenders battle it out on Judgement Day this weekend. An ankle injury for the Dragons’ Elliot Dee has ruled him out of a direct head-to-head against the Scarlets’ Ryan Elias, but the Ospreys’ Dewi Lake is on the comeback trail and he will face off against Cardiff’s in-form Liam Belcher.

At a time when the judgements on Welsh rugby tend mostly to be harsh ones, it would be easy to dismiss this weekend’s Judgement Day as almost an irrelevance when it comes to the business end of the United Rugby Championship. After all, the Ospreys need a series of unlikely and complicated results on the final weekend in order to sneak into the play-offs.

Rhys Ruddock has paid tribute to his family, including father Mike, after announcing this season would be his last. Ruddock will end a hugely successful 15-year stretch this month when he plays his final match for Leinster – bringing down the curtain on one of the most decorated careers of any player raised in Wales.

There will be three very interested spectators at Cardiff City Stadium at Judgement Day on Saturday all hoping for different things out of the regional double-header. The traditional derbyfest ends the season for the four Welsh teams in the United Rugby Championship – unless the Ospreys can squeeze into the play-offs.