The grass has been cut, the lines have been painted, and the pre-season friendlies are up and running as the new rugby season beckons. Robin Davey insists there’s much to get excited about. It’s all systems go, at last – the new Guinness Pro 14 League fixtures are out, major pre-season friendlies start this weekend and the countdown is on for the start of what promises to be an exciting new season. The Scarlets will defend the title they won so gloriously last season, the Ospreys look to rediscover the form they lost so dramatically, Cardiff Blues will aim to prove the doubters wrong and the Dragons will finally seek to end a shocking run under the management of the Welsh Rugby Union.

The grass has been cut, the lines have been painted, and the pre-season friendlies are up and running as the new rugby season beckons. Robin Davey insists there’s much to get excited about. It’s all systems go, at last – the new Guinness Pro 14 League fixtures are out, major pre-season friendlies start this weekend and the countdown is on for the start of what promises to be an exciting new season. The Scarlets will defend the title they won so gloriously last season, the Ospreys look to rediscover the form they lost so dramatically, Cardiff Blues will aim to prove the doubters wrong and the Dragons will finally seek to end a shocking run under the management of the Welsh Rugby Union.

The Ospreys are to offer free tickets to compensate for the loss of a home match in the new expanded Guinness Pro14. Members who bought season tickets for the new campaign on the basis of 11 Pro12 home games as usual in the old format, will now only have 10 home games this season in the two conference set-up. To make up for the loss of a fixture they have already paid for, fans will be offered two complimentary tickets to bring friends and family to a home match of their choice.

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.

Leigh Halfpenny has chosen the Scarlets ahead of others, because of their playing style – according to coach Wayne Pivac. The Wales full-back has signed a three-year deal with the region on a national dual contract, primarily funded by the Welsh Rugby Union. Halfpenny held talks with the Cardiff Blues earlier in the year after his relationship with French club Toulon began to come under stress.

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.

Tom Prydie’s ambition to wear the Scarlets No.15 shirt is about to get a whole lot tougher with the imminent arrival at the region of Leigh Halfpenny. Former Wales wing Prydie moved to Parc Y Scarlets this summer, hoping to fill the void left by Liam Williams’ departure for Saracens. But with Halfpenny now in talks to finalise a return to Wales from Toulon on a national dual contract, Prydie’s job in re-igniting a career that has not lived up to its super-charged early success now appears more complicated.

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.

The rugby season in Wales has ended on a high with the Scarlets’ thrilling capture of the Guinness Pro12 title in Dublin. But what shape is the game in at regional level and below? Geraint Powell gives his tier-ful end-of-season report.

Wayne Pivac believes his champion Scarlets have undermined the claim that big budgets rule in professional rugby. The New Zealander has claimed that his region – crowned Guinness Pro12 title winners after their routing of Munster on Saturday – are only eighth in the rich list of the 12 teams in the tournament.

Scott Williams has told his Scarlets teammates it is time to put right a decade of under-achievement by lifting the Guinness Pro12 trophy. The region face Munster at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Saturday night as outsiders to lift the trophy, despite their stunning semi-final play-off victory over Leinster a week ago. Munster – who will be infused by a burning desire to mark the passing of Anthony Foley with a triumph in his honour – are the bookies’ favourites with most giving them a seven-point handicap.