Regions arrange A-team games to fill gap

THREE of the four Welsh regions will play A-fixtures over the next four weeks.

The United Rugby Championship will take a month off after this weekend to avoid clashing with the International window.

The break will give Wales’ professional sides a chance to look at their wider squads.

Cardiff favour giving their players more exposure in the Welsh Premiership, but Dragons, Ospreys, and Scarlets have arranged A-team fixtures with each other, and English opposition.

“We’ve got three confirmed fixtures to give people in our squad a chance,” Ospreys head coach Toby Booth said.

“We’ve had all our boys out playing in the Welsh Premiership, but to play as a team for the Ospreys is important. We are playing against Ealing, Exeter and the Scarlets.

“The plan is to keep other players motivated. We won’t play the boys who have played a lot and it allows us to have a mini pre-season. We’ll train against other teams as well to keep us sharp.”

Dragons will also take on Scarlets in an A-fixture over the next couple of weeks.

Dragons director of rugby Dean Ryan says bridging the gap between the semi-professional Welsh Premiership and the URC is a problem for the four Welsh regions.

Ryan said: “We’ve got a regional A-game against the Scarlets coming up and we are also looking at if we can create something in house because we have a lot of players who aren’t playing enough.

“We are communicating with some of our clubs about what that might look like because we might struggle to get a full roster up. But we need to get same game time for those players.

“It’s a difficult challenge. The Premiership is right for some players, but for others it’s not.”