It’s the pressing issue of our time. . . Europe and the question of whether the Scarlets and the Cardiff Blues are heading for a soft or hard pool stage when the Heineken Champions Cup kicks-off this weekend. Robin Davey reckons the Scarlets will go deeper into the tournament, with the Ospreys to do likewise in the Challenge Cup, whilst the Dragons have to show signs of improvement. Europe is the big arena in more ways than one, but on the rugby front the Scarlets and Cardiff Blues head into Heineken Champions Cup action this weekend while for the Ospreys and Dragons it’s the Challenge Cup competition. The Scarlets have the European pedigree, they are more than used to playing in the top tier and reached the semi-final stage last season, while for the Blues it’s a welcome return to the main event.

Wayne Pivac has told his Scarlets players that another European adventure this season must include a better start than a year ago. The region begin their Heineken Champions campaign at home to Racing 92 on Saturday, fresh from their 20-17 victory over the Ospreys last weekend. A years ago, Pivac’s team suffered back-to-back defeats at the start of Europe’s pool stages – losing narrowly at Toulon and then at home to Bath, before going on to win five straight matches on their way to the semi-final where they eventually fell to champions Leinster.

Wayne Pivac has warned his Scarlets team the Ospreys are no longer the soft touch of previous seasons. As the two rivals meet on Saturday in the first Guinness Pro14 Welsh derby of the season, the Scarlets coach is convinced the opponents he knows best are now on the up. The Scarlets did the double over their neighbours last season and Pivac’s side have only lost one of their last five matches between the teams.

It’s derby day in Wales this weekend and Robin Davey is feeling optimistic that all four regions now have sufficient quality to make the outcomes difficult to predict. But he still fancies the Cardiff Blues and the Scarlets. A fairly uneventful start to the Guinness Pro 14 season is about to explode into action with the arrival of two hotly contested derbies on Saturday in front of near full houses. In the west, the Scarlets take on the Ospreys at Parc Y Scarlets on Saturday afternoon and just over two hours later in the east the Dragons face Cardiff Blues at Rodney Parade.

Former Wales scrum-half Richie Rees has told his Cardiff Blues A team they must improve their decision-making after they blew victory against Munster A with one of the strangest calls of the season so far. The Blues A team lost 33-32 at the Arms Park after they were awarded a penalty late in the match, with time to kick for the corner and launch a final attack. Instead, full-back Tom Williams took a 60-metre shot at goal, which fell well short, and the Blues stumbled to their third successive defeat.

Wayne Pivac paid tribute to Jonathan Davies – and others – after the returning cavalry helped the Scarlets up to second place in Conference B of the Guinness Pro14. The Wales centre played his first match back after 10 months out injured and looked as if he had never been away as he scored two tries in the 54-14 thrashing of Southern Kings in Llanelli. Paul Asquith and Ioan Nicholas joined Davies in making their first starts of the season as Pivac refreshed his squad following their defeat to Connacht the previous week.

John Mulvihill has admitted Cardiff Blues fans are being short-changed following the region’s poor start to the season. The Blues head coach has overseen three straight defeats in the Guinness Pro14, all of which involved the surrender of winning positions. The latest came in Parma on Saturday where despite the perfect preparation of week based in Italy following their loss to Treviso the previous weekend, Mulvilhill’s side crumbled – losing 26-24, having been 21-0 ahead.

Wales scrum-half Gareth Davies has been accused of “dirty play” by former Ireland international Luke Fitzgerald for allegedly aiming a knee at Leinster’s James Lowe. The incident occured in the first-half of the Scarlets’ thrilling 23-21 victory at home to the Guinness Pro 14 champions on Saturday. New Zealander Lowe scored just before half-time, but as he slid in at the corner he was challenged by a sliding Davies as the players collided.

Ireland lock Devin Toner has warned the Scarlets that Leinster will be on mission to make amends for five years of failure when they visit Llanelli on Saturday night. The Scarlets will face Leinster’s big guns after the Guinness Pro14 champions decided to load up on internationals for their second trip to Wales in a week. The repeat of last year’s Pro14 final and European Champions Cup semi-final – both of which the Scarlets lost – will see the Irish province at much nearer full strength after making 11 changes to the side that won narrowly at Cardiff Blues.

The new Guinness Pro 14 season begins on Friday night and ince again the Scarlets are the Welsh region most likely to challenge for the title. Having looked at the Dragons, the Ospreys and the Cardiff Blues, the Dai Sport spotlight now falls on the Scarlets as Steffan Thomas finds reason for optimism once more down west. When Wayne Pivac was appointed Scarlets coach in 2014 nobody could have predicted the influence the former copper would have on the rugby landscape in west Wales. The name Pivac wouldn’t have rung many bells in the northern hemisphere but the Aucklander heads into his fifth season as the longest serving coach in the Guinness Pro 14.

The Scarlets look as though they are going to have to limp back into action in the Guinness PRO14 at Ulster on Saturday. Head coach Wayne Pivac has got 14 players, seven of them internationals, on the injury list and is set to head to Belfast without Wales and British & Irish Lions full back Leigh Halfpenny, who is struggling with a tight groin.

Having recently looked at the Principality Premiership, Geraint Powell turns his attention to the survivors of the great 2003 Welsh rugby shake-up, the regions. These like to consider themselves as independent business operations. How’s trade? “Project Reset”. Two words that send a shudder down the spines of those who want to forever remain with the non-aligned April 2003 fudge without the requisite never ending evolution/modernisation. This is compounded by ill-advised fixed term “cliff edge” agreements between the WRU and the regions, an excuse to stand still for periods of five to six years.