What are Welsh sides' chances for new URC season?

Perhaps it is down to the hope and excitement of pre-season but all four Welsh clubs go into the 2026-27 United Rugby Championship (URC) with dreams of making the play-offs.

Last season Cardiff were the only side from Wales to make the top eight while Scarlets and Ospreys were the sole Welsh representatives in 2025 and 2024 respectively.

Those three, and Dragons, have shown they can mix it with the best in the league on their day and all will feel the top eight is not out of reach if they have some luck with injury.

They will attempt to set the tone for the season in the first block of the URC, with Saturday’s meeting between Scarlets and Cardiff in Llanelli the first of five derbies before the break for the November internationals.

BBC Sport Wales assess the chances of all four Welsh teams for the coming season.

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Teddy Williams won his 10th Wales cap against South Africa in July [Huw Evans Picture Agency]

Key man: Teddy Williams – Cardiff will hope the Wales lock, their player of the year in 2024-25, can stay fit having been limited to three appearances in the past season after a dislocated right foot last October.

Prospects: The Blue and Blacks aim to celebrate their 150th anniversary by building on a strong 2025-26 when they made the play-offs for the first time.

After a blow on the eve of the season when boss Matt Sherratt left for Wales, Corniel van Zyl guided Cardiff to sixth in the table and Champions Cup qualification.

The South African is now charged with continuing an upward trend, helped by clarity about his future after being officially appointed permanent head coach in April.

“It does feel way better to know what is coming,” said the former lock, who held talks with Benetton about their top job before they appointed ex-Wales boss Wayne Pivac.

“It helps to manage and plan well, whereas if you are thrown in at the deep end then you can make decisions quickly and it’s not necessarily the right thing to do.”

Cardiff’s success was built on their formidable Arms Park record, with Scarlets the only team to beat them in the Welsh capital.

Expectations are high and they must mix top-tier European rugby with another tilt at the top eight, with a tricky five-day turnaround from Northampton in the Champions Cup to a home URC fixture with Sharks in October.

“Look at the last three years and Cardiff has grown. That’s the main focus for us, to be a better team, and better individually and collectively as a club,” said Van Zyl.

“We are not the cream of the crop yet, so the mission is to get better and have consistency in our performance.

“Last year we were very good at the Arms Park and we would love to replicate that, and also get better away from home. That’s the challenge.”

Derbies in the first block against Scarlets in Llanelli and Ospreys at St Helen’s are key to that desire.

Cardiff will want to be Wales’ top team once more.

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Mark Jones joined Ospreys as defence coach in 2023 [Huw Evans Picture Agency]

Co-captains: Sam Parry and Owen Watkin

Key man: Lalaki Foketi – The nine-times Wallabies centre arrives from Super Rugby side Chiefs and has the ability to prove a real game-breaker.

Wing Marika Koroibete is the more household name but Foketi can provide something that Ospreys or very few Welsh sides possess.

Prospects: It will be a fascinating season for Ospreys on and off the field.

To improve on last season’s 11th place finish, Mark Jones’ side must repeat the home form and their success in derbies that saw them lift the Welsh shield.

Put simply, Ospreys have to start winning more away games if they want to launch a play-off push, and they start their season in South Africa against Sharks and Lions.

“We had seven wins and two draws last season and 10 wins would normally get you in the play-offs,” said Ospreys head coach Jones.

“We know we are not a million miles away and we have been in and around the play-offs and we want to be in there competing this season.”

Ospreys have launched a recruitment drive in Australia with three Wallabies arriving in back-row forward Liam Wright, centre Foketi and wing Koroibete.

Australian fly-half Lawson Creighton has also come in to go alongside lock Ryan Smith, who was a resounding success last season.

It is policy that has excited supporters after the loss of Wales captains Jac Morgan and Dewi Lake, but one that happened with uncertainty over the club’s future still lingering with the WRU getting rid of a west Wales region in 2028.

The Ospreys, aided by Swansea Council, hope to secure the long-term future and do this by moving into the new seaside St Helen’s home, while Wales legend Alun Wyn Jones has joined the board.

The opening home game is against the Dragons on 24 October and the Ospreys’ faithful have one final major chance to demonstrate they will back their team. A successful start to the season will help that quest.

“Having your own home is massive,” said Mark Jones. “The Swansea.com Stadium and Bridgend were great, but this gives us the opportunity to bring the city and the rest of the region in.”

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Fletcher Anderson was a huge hit after arriving at Scarlets from Crusaders [Huw Evans Picture Agency]

Key man: Fletcher Anderson – The number eight from New Zealand was the Welsh signing of the season last year with his powerful bursts. Once he recovers from a groin injury, Anderson will aim to avoid suffering the dreaded second season syndrome against teams that now know what he can do.

Prospects: Scarlets players and fans will expect a noticeable improvement from last season. No Champions Cup victories and 14th place in the URC was not acceptable for a side that is the most recent Welsh team to win the league in 2017.

Nigel Davies has become the permanent director of rugby with Dwayne Peel continuing as head coach.

“We were absolutely not happy with 14th,” said Davies.

“I’m not going to sit here and give any predictions of where we’re going to finish, but what we’re going to see is a Scarlets team with intent, wanting to play quickly, wanting to excite our crowd and be hugely competitive and abrasive.”

Scarlets have lost international forwards Marnus van der Merwe, Alec Hepburn and Jake Ball.

The main new signing is one-cap All Blacks flanker Cullen Grace who does not arrive until October. Scarlets will hope he has the same impact as his fellow New Zealander Anderson.

“We’ve had an honest review of where we were,” said Davies.

“There’s been a lot of work behind the scenes, a lot of detail, and we’ve put a lot of new processes in place.

“We’ve brought in new coaches and some new players. I know they’re not all available at the moment, but that will come.”

With doubts over the region’s long-term future as the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) prepares to cut a men’s professional side by 2028, all eyes will be on the team’s performances this season.

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Uncapped Ryan Woodman came off the bench for Wales against the Barbarians in June [Huw Evans Picture Agency]

Co-captains: Ben Carter and Angus O’Brien

Key man: Ryan Woodman – The loss of number eight Aaron Wainwright to Leicester is huge but the blind-side flanker can help soften the blow. After facing Barbarians with Wales last summer, the uncapped forward can put himself in the mix for the World Cup.

Prospects: Dragons’ much-improved 2025-26 that has led to them setting a lofty target of being in the mix for the play-offs.

Filo Tiatia’s side made the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup and had the biggest points swing in the URC, claiming 28 after the previous year’s embarrassing tally of nine.

After four draws, Dragons feel that they can push into the race for the top eight.

They will at least want to avoid being Wales’ lowest-ranked side – something they have been in 18 of 23 seasons – and end their 21-game losing streak against closest rivals Cardiff that goes back to 2015.

Dragons made just three signings and only one of them, Tonga wing Anzelo Tu’itavuki, will feature in the first block of the season.

After plenty of summers of upheaval, influential centre Aneurin Owen sees the lack of change as a positive.

“It has meant we have been able to build on last season, we’ve not started from scratch,” he said.

“Changes can be good but they can also be disruptive. We have banked all of the stuff from last season and been able to develop our game a lot more.”

Dragons travel to Benetton but then play five fixtures in Wales before the break for the Nations Championship.

They have home URC derbies against Scarlets and Ospreys, a Challenge Cup opener against Perpignan, an away fixture against Ospreys at the revamped St Helen’s and then a Newport fixture versus Zebre.

“Last year it felt we didn’t get our season going until December when we got a win and confidence grew,” said Owen.

“We need to kick on. There were some promising signs last season, especially in the cup, but we still finished 15th.

“The challenge we have set as a group is to get after it in the league and Europe, and it all starts with this first block. We can get some momentum and belief.”

There are four Welsh clubs to look at ahead of the 2026-27 season but it promises to be a crucial year as to whether that remains the case from 2028 onwards.

The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) are pressing on with controversial plans to cut a professional men’s side.

Cardiff and Dragons are poised to be given licences, leaving Ospreys and Scarlets fighting it out to be the team in the west.

The WRU has said the process to decide the framework for the final decision will begin in December and finish before the end of this season.

Welsh players will once again be tasked with putting uncertainty over the future to the back of their minds, a situation that could well lead to others joining the growing contingent playing in England after the loss of Wales co-captains Morgan and Lake to Gloucester.