The 2023 Welsh Varsity tournament will be returning to Cardiff for the first time since 2019 as student teams from Swansea and Cardiff University go head-to-head in its 25th year. We've been impressed with a couple of performances that we've seen. There's definitely more to come. The 2023 tournament will take place in venues across the city, including Sport Wales and Cardiff Arms Park. Cardiff will be looking to retain the shield for another year, after reclaiming it in Swansea last year. The pay-off was an agreement between Steve Phillips and the WRU at the time," said Collier-Keywood.

There’s a great energy about them and they are extremely coachable,” she said. “You can explain something to every single one of them, you can explain the how and the why and they will then apply that into practice. You see that in every session and game as well. We want there to be four vibrant professional clubs in Wales where people can go along on a weekend and watch an excellent match that has jeopardy and is competitive.All four regions are going to have to cut their cloth accordingly while player wages are about to get pushed down meaning many will seek alternative employment in England or France. Keiran is a bit different. He reminds me of a younger Scott Gibbs in the way that he plays and his stature with fantastic footwork in getting across the gainline. He's pretty exciting and it's a great opportunity."

His day started with a meeting of the Professional Rugby Board, moved on to a meeting with the delegates of the Welsh Rugby Players Association, a WRU board meeting and then the press conference. After that it was on to another meeting to help douse another major fire. You feel it is not what he signed up for, but if he keeps on doing what he’s doing, common sense might prevail on a number of fronts.

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Gatland will be hoping the hard work at World Cup training camps pay off this weekend as Wales host England. Credit: ITV Cymru Wales The new WRPA chief executive, Gareth Lewis, led the charge against the PRB and the delays in sorting out the proposed six-year agreement. The moment strike action was mooted, panic set in. He was suddenly invited as an observer at a PRB meeting and emergency meetings were called. Peace in our time? For this week at least On a separate matter, Wales players threatened to strike in the following month for the Six Nations home match in Cardiff over contractual issues, an issue that was resolved three days before the game was staged. Richard Collier-Keywood became the first Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) appointed independent chair in July 2023 when he replaced Ieuan Evans

Wales will throw the kitchen sink at Ireland in the championship opener in Cardiff but beating Andy Farrell's side will probably be a step too far. Scotland at Murrayfield will be very difficult but it is winnable as is the home clash with England. By September Warren Gatland will have figured out how to get the best out of this pool of players, and the New Zealander has always found a way to get his side firing at a World Cup. On the pitch, Gatland has had to deal with the sudden international retirements of some of his most experienced players. The oldest international rugby match in the sport, Scotland versus England, will be played out in Edinburgh in round three, before Scotland travel to Rome in round four to take on the Azzurri.

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And when you can build the confidence within a group of players and they start believing, then we know special things can happen. Dai Young, Director of Rugby, Cardiff Rugby, said: “Judgement Day is always a key date in the Welsh rugby calendar but something I have never been involved in, so on a personal level it is a game I am really looking forward to.

Alun Wyn Jones, Rhys Webb and Justin Tipuric have all walked away from Wales' 2023 World Cup squad. Credit: ITV Cymru Wales There are whispers suggesting Jac Morgan could be in line for the job, but Tipuric has vast experience, a sharp rugby brain and he’s forgotten more than some players will ever learn. He’s also his region’s captain. Davies spoke of the "challenging year" and "traumatic time" which had not been "a comfortable period for Welsh rugby".

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I’m a complete supporter of the players in terms of the WRPA, which to me in my time here has been incredibly weak as an organisation. I’ve stressed on a number of occasions to the players that they need to be stronger, they need to have more voice,” said Gatland at the time. “From that regard, I think it’s a huge positive for the players and their relationship with the union going forward, because they need to be part of all the discussions that take place.” Yeah, probably recent times have been a little bit tough but all I can say is that we’ll put the hard work in here and work on building that confidence to give some good performances over the next few months.” Ben James: It all boils down to that meeting between Ireland and France in the second weekend of the tournament. Ireland are the number one ranked side in the world and have home advantage for that clash, so the smart money would be on them. However, there's just something hard to resist about France at the minute. They might just find a way to get through that one and win the title. Where will Wales finish?