Wales' URC regions: The state of play ahead of the Nations Championship
Cardiff's Tom Bowen scored twice in their recent 26-0 win over Ospreys
©Inpho Photography
The opening block of the United Rugby Championship season has come to an end, with a play-off battle already brewing between several teams.
Glasgow Warriors remain the only unbeaten side, with four wins and a draw. The South African trio of the Bulls, Stormers and Sharks have each lost just one match so far.
Fifth-placed Edinburgh suffered their first defeat of the season away at Benetton last weekend and sit one point ahead of Leinster, who have recovered from their tour of South Africa by winning their last three matches. That run included a thumping 50-5 victory away against Connacht last Friday night.
Elsewhere, there are only five points separating Cardiff in seventh place and Ulster in 15th, with the race for the play-offs seemingly under way despite plenty of rugby still to be played.
From a Welsh perspective, the opening block has provided an opportunity for several players to make their case for international selection, with Steve Tandy naming a 39-strong squad for the return of the Nations Championship.
Wales resume their campaign against Japan on Saturday, currently sitting in fifth in the northern hemisphere standings following a mixed July schedule.
An encouraging 39-24 victory against Fiji was followed by defeats against Argentina and South Africa, with three home matches in Cardiff now providing an opportunity to build momentum ahead of the 2027 World Cup.
With Japan first up, followed by New Zealand and Australia, let's take stock of the club season so far before turning our attention to Test rugby.
Cardiff remain Wales' top side
After reaching the URC play-offs last season, Cardiff have continued their good form under head coach Corniel van Zyl.
Despite suffering league defeats against Leinster in Dublin and a rejuvenated Sharks side in Cardiff, they have picked up two derby victories away from home and claimed a bonus-point win over Zebre to start the season.
There was an element of early-season rust during their victory against Scarlets on the opening weekend, but their display at St Helens against the Ospreys last Saturday was particularly impressive.
They completely shut out everything the home side threw at them and took their opportunities, with six entries into the 22 resulting in four tries in a 26-0 triumph. These included a brace for Tom Bowen and a score for Josh Adams, who was released from Wales' camp to play in Swansea.
But the performance was built around a core of young players and led by 20-year-old centre Steff Emanuel, who created two tries. He provided a try-scoring pass for Bowen before a neat grubber kick set up Adams to score.
Emanuel made 15 carries and 17 tackles, with two of his defensive efforts summing up the evening. The first saw him stop an Ospreys attack at source with a big hit on scrum-half Luke Davies, before he brought down wing Keelan Giles in the closing stages to ensure the hosts remained pointless.
Elsewhere, number eight Taine Basham has made a real impact, beating 24 defenders so far this season. Nobody in the league has bettered that figure, and his performances earned him a call-up to Steve Tandy's autumn squad.
Basham is one of several Cardiff players to have caught the attention of the Wales head coach, with uncapped prop Rhys Barratt also named in the 39-strong group.
The capital city side currently sit in seventh place but will have to contend with some big Champions Cup fixtures during the second part of the season. These include a home tie against Gallagher Prem side Bath before they face French teams Stade Francais and Montpellier.
Injury-hit Dragons pick up much-needed victory
Joining Cardiff in the play-off positions after the opening block of the term are the Dragons, with Filo Tiatia's side picking up two wins and a draw in the league.
The Men of Gwent showed good resilience during the opening weeks of the season, coming from behind to draw against Benetton whilst also beating the Scarlets 38-26 at home.
However, they failed to adjust to the horrendous weather conditions as they were well beaten by the Ospreys 31-14 in Swansea, having also lost to the same opposition at Rodney Parade two weeks earlier.
Yet, despite missing their Welsh squad players and having an ever-growing injury list, they managed to produce a 35-14 win over Zebre in Newport last weekend.
The bonus-point victory ensured a positive start to their campaign, as a home defeat would have raised further questions about the side's progress.
The rolling maul has become a powerful weapon, with hooker Elliot Dee scoring five tries alongside two penalty tries.
The signing of Tongan international Anzelo Tuitavuki has also been a major positive.
The wing has beaten 16 defenders and made 328 metres over the course of the season, while scoring in five consecutive games for the Rodney Parade club.
Fellow wing Rio Dyer had also been in good form during the opening weeks, earning a recall to the international set-up before suffering a hamstring injury.
His absence is a blow for Wales as well as the Dragons, with the 26-year-old ruled out of the November campaign and replaced in Tandy's squad by uncapped Scarlets back Macs Page.
There is still a healthy Dragons presence in the national squad, however, with uncapped centre Aneurin Owen and scrum-half Che Hope both included.
Focusing back on the Dragons, up front, they will be hoping prop Rob Hunt and flanker Thomas Young can make an impact when they return from injury. Number eight Harrison Keddie has continued to impress, while it has been a breakthrough season for lock Barny Langton-Cryer.
The Dragons will be keen to build on their opening Challenge Cup victory over Perpignan when they face the Cheetahs in December, but they begin a busy schedule with an away trip to Edinburgh in the URC on December 4th. The festive period will also provide two opportunities to end their East Wales derby hoodoo against Cardiff.
Derby disappointment hinders St Helen's' buzz
Mark Jones' Ospreys ended the opening block of games in ninth place following their derby defeat against Cardiff last weekend.
It had been a relatively good start for the Swansea-based club, who began their season with four consecutive away trips in all competitions and managed to pick up two victories while the redevelopment of St Helen's continued.
They returned to Swansea and beat the Dragons 31-14 in Round Four after their forwards provided a strong platform for success, before taking a step backwards against Cardiff.
Injuries had started to take their toll, with late withdrawals from the original squad for lock Rhys Davies and fly-half Lawson Creighton.
Scrum-half Kieran Hardy also faces knee surgery and has been ruled out for the remainder of the season.
Despite having the majority of possession and winning penalties at the scrum against Cardiff, the glaring issue for Jones and attack coach Richard Fussell was their conversion rate inside the opposition's 22.
Before the game, the Ospreys had been relatively successful when entering the 'red zone', particularly during their away win against the Dragons at the beginning of last month. However, 15 entries into the 22 against Cardiff yielded no points in a frustrating performance, despite the side crossing the try line four times only to be held up on each occasion.
Number eight Morgan Morris and centre Keiran Williams have remained busy and continue to provide a strong carrying game, making 55 and 48 carries respectively this season.
Supporters will be hoping to see more of Australian wing Marika Koroibete, who has played just 30 minutes for the club after sustaining a rib injury during their 38-31 victory over the Dragons at the start of October.
But the signing of the summer for Jones' side has been blindside flanker Liam Wright, who has started all five league matches and played a vital role in the lineout, which has produced seven rolling-maul tries.
When club rugby returns, the Ospreys face a tough task when they host champions Leinster at the beginning of December, before an exciting Anglo-Welsh tie against Harlequins at St Helen's ahead of the Christmas derbies.
Like Cardiff, they will also face two French sides in January when they take on Toulon and Vannes in the Challenge Cup.
Are the Scarlets turning the corner?
The URC table might show just one win for the Scarlets in five matches, but there has been clear improvement from Nigel Davies' side over the last few weeks.
They started the season slowly with derby defeats against Cardiff and the Dragons, but turned a corner when fighting back from behind to beat Benetton 27-26 at Parc y Scarlets in Round Three.
While they failed to secure a victory in either match on their tour of South Africa, they showed plenty of fight to claim a try bonus point in both games. That was particularly impressive considering they were without all of their international players against the Bulls last weekend.
The return of New Zealander Fletcher Anderson has helped proceedings, with the number eight adding a strong carrying threat to an exciting back line.
Macs Page's impressive start to the season has earned him a call-up to the national squad after making eight clean breaks and beating 16 defenders.
Centre Joe Roberts is the league's top try-scorer with five tries, while full-back Blair Murray has made 379 metres in a lively opening to the campaign.
However, a major concern will be the Scarlets' defensive record, despite the efforts of captain John Macleod, who currently leads the tackle charts after completing 75 tackles and winning six turnovers.
The Scarlets have already conceded 29 tries in the league, with defence coach Eamon O'Carroll only joining the club last month following the conclusion of the Super League season with St Helens in rugby league.
Following the November break and a home clash with Connacht, the Scarlets will face three consecutive away trips in all competitions, starting with a Challenge Cup tie against the Sharks before travelling to Munster and then heading to the Ospreys on Boxing Day.
.jpg "Toulouse's Kalvin Gourgues might be one of the young French players to watch during the Nations Championship")
