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Ben James

The best team each Welsh region is left with after huge exodus

After the most tumultuous season, attention slowly turns towards the start of next campaign.

Granted, there is still silverware to be won for those outside of Wales, while there is also a World Cup which pushes everything back significantly, but, with pre-season training to begin next month and a summer of deals left to be done, work for the 2023/24 campaign is already starting.

However, after a rough season, where do the four Welsh teams stand? What do they need to add and just how strong a side could they currently name?

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There are a few holes to be plugged, to say the least:

Cardiff

Starting with the top-ranked Welsh side and the only representation in the top tier of Europe, it's shaping up to be a long summer for the Arms Park side.

For starters, the path their off-season takes is going to be dependent on what happens with director of rugby Dai Young, who is suspended. How those proceedings play out largely set the agenda moving forward. At the very least, any incoming deals are unlikely until it is resolved.

As such, Cardiff will head into pre-season with roughly 20 players to begin with. To say that's hardly ideal would register as one of the understatements of the year.

With Jarrod Evans and Rhys Priestland gone, there are no out-and-out fly-halves on the books. The likes of Matthew Morgan, Ben Thomas and Jacob Beetham are all capable of playing there (and you'd never rule out Dan Fish pushing his retirement back further for the sake of some more credit in the cult hero bank) but the expectation is a new face will be brought in.

Quite who that will be remains unclear, given the inability to offer Evans anywhere near what he was earning before his contract expired.

Other areas where there is a lack of depth are midfield, after the departures of Rey Lee-Lo, Willis Halaholo and Harri Millard, while tight-head prop is also light.

In truth, rounding out this squad while playing a higher tier of European rugby on a shrinking budget is a tough ask. There is still plenty of talent there, even if there's still the chance that someone like Wales full-back Liam Williams could depart in order to free up a bit of money in the coffers.

Possible starting XV: Liam Williams; Owen Lane, Mason Grady, Ben Thomas, Josh Adams; Matthew Morgan, Tomos Williams; Corey Domachowski, Liam Belcher, Keiron Assiratti, Lopeti Timani, Teddy Williams, Josh Turnbull, Thomas Young, Taulupe Faletau.

Replacements: Efan Daniel, Rhys Carre, Will Davies-King, Seb Davies, Ellis Jenkins, Ellis Bevan, Jacob Beetham, Theo Cabango.

Dragons

In terms of recruitment, the Dragons have managed to do relatively well so far. Dan Lydiate is a coup, while Dane Blacker and Corey Baldwin add depth and are both familiar to Dai Flanagan from his time at the Scarlets.

The need for a loose-head has already been noted by Flanagan, with Rob Evans' move ultimately not working out. The loss of Ross Moriarty, Sam Davies and Will Rowlands will obviously be felt by the Rodney Parade side.

Too many more incomings seem unlikely, but the key will likely be getting the most out of last season's signings. While Angus O'Brien and Steff Hughes shone, a few others were a little quieter with their impact.

Possible starting XV: Angus O'Brien; Rio Dyer, Sio Tomkinson, Steff Hughes, Ashton Hewitt; Will Reed, Rhodri Williams; Aki Seiuli, Elliot Dee, Leon Brown, Ben Carter, Matthew Screech, Dan Lydiate, Taine Basham, Aaron Wainwright.

Replacements: Bradley Roberts, Rhodri Jones, Chris Coleman, George Nott, Harri Keddie, Dane Blacker, JJ Hanrahan, Aneurin Owen.

Ospreys

As the season drew to a close, Ospreys head coach Toby Booth lamented the fact that his side were more of a cup team than a league one. On their day, very strong, but perhaps lacking depth to deal with the slings and arrows of a league season.

That's evident when you go through their strongest side, however it is beyond that where the cracks probably show. There's a bit of depth in the form of Max Nagy, Keelan Giles and Luke Morgan in the back-three, but midfield is weaker now that Joe Hawkins has gone.

Gareth Anscombe's departure and Stephen Myler's retirement puts the pressure on Owen Williams and Jack Walsh at fly-half, while Rhys Webb's future in Swansea remains unsettled.

The pack, other than blindside after the loss of Dan Lydiate and Ethan Roots, remains strong. It seems likely that Alun Wyn Jones' time at the Swansea.com Stadium is done, too, with the onus now on bringing through some new faces in the position.

Possible starting XV: Michael Collins; Alex Cuthbert, Owen Watkin, Keiran Williams; George North; Owen Williams, Rhys Webb; Nicky Smith, Dewi Lake, Tomas Francis, Adam Beard, Rhys Davies, Jac Morgan, Justin Tipuric, Morgan Morris.

Replacements: Sam Parry, Gareth Thomas, Tom Botha, Huw Sutton, Harri Deaves, Reuben Morgan-Williams, Jack Walsh, Luke Morgan.

Scarlets

All in all, the west Walians have managed to keep a decent percentage of their playing squad.

The loss of Sione Kalamafoni is big and the onus is now going to be on Carwyn Tuipulotu to step up as a regular. You'd like to think how the Scarlets have slowly managed his development over the years will help on that front.

Throw in the departures of Blade Thomson, Tomas Lezana and Aaron Shingler and the back-row does look a little light.

Elsewhere, Ioan Lloyd covers the loss of Rhys Patchell, while there's enough backline talent now the likes of Ryan Conbeer and Joe Roberts have really found their feet.

Perhaps the biggest issue for the Scarlets isn't the turnover of players, but the change in coaches. Those close to the set-up speak highly of the work Lee Blackett has done with this group of players. Unfortunately, he has been snapped up, with more coaching changes in the pipeline as Jared Payne and Albert van der Berg get set to join Dwayne Peel's ticket.

The fortunes of Peel have swung from seemingly clinging to his job to being just 80 minutes away from a European final this season. Blackett undoubtedly played a part in that. How they now build without the soon-to-be Bath assistant will be interesting. The coaching ticket in Llanelli has been unsettled for far too long now.

Possible starting XV: Johnny McNicholl; Steff Evans, Joe Roberts, Johnny Williams, Ryan Conbeer; Sam Costelow, Gareth Davies; Kemsley Mathias, Ken Owens, Sam Wainwright, Vaea Fifita, Sam Lousi, Josh Macleod, Dan Davis, Carwyn Tuipulotu.

Replacements: Ryan Elias, Wyn Jones, Harri O'Connor, Morgan Jones, Iwan Shenton, Kieran Hardy, Ioan Lloyd, Jonathan Davies.

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