What they have... and a challenge next season

tryman Dmitri Arhip.

The Ospreys are losing a number of seasoned stalwarts in Biggar, Rhys Webb, Ashley Beck and Arhip, so it’s a challenging assignment for new head coach Allen Clarke as he looks to reestablish them as a real force in the PRO14.

He will be aided by Matt Sherratt and it will be fascinating to see what the now ex-Blues backs coach can get out of the likes of North, Williams, Owen Watkin, Sam Davies, Keelan Giles and Aled Davies, as he was a key figure in the Arms Park outfit’s journey to European trophy triumph. IT was pretty clear during the PRO14 final in Dublin what the Scarlets need to add to their game and Wayne Pivac has already moved to address the issue.

They lacked the ball-carrying oomph which enabled Leinster to build the phases and provide their half-backs with a front foot armchair ride from which to run the show.

It meant just about every attack the visitors embarked on had to be miracle rugby, with counters from deep, high-risk offloads and phases being avoided wherever possible given they were losing the battle in the contact area.

Don’t get me wrong, it was great to watch, but it’s not going to come off all the time and they do need to offer a greater physical dimension up front, especially for the winter months when up-the-jumper is a necessity at times.

They will also have been aware of the need to cater for the huge demands on their squads from international call-ups, with resources having been stretched to the limit during the Test periods this past season.

And there was the challenge of replacing the departing John Barclay, Tadhg Beirne, Scott Williams and Aled Davies.

A wise old fox, Pivac looks to have addressed all the issues.

He has added ball-carrying clout with the signing of Cheetahs No 8 Uzair Cassiem and dynamic Kiwi forward Blade Thomson, while there will be further season-long additions in Clayton Blommetjies and Kieron Fonotia, enabling them to cope better in international windows.

Sam Hidalgo-Clyne could bolster that period further as he may well not be involved on Scotland duty, while his class will really boost the scrumhalf options. So, Pivac has done his business early and, once again, he looks to have done it well.