The Ospreys, formerly the Neath–Swansea Ospreys is one of the four professional rugby union teams from Wales. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team formed as a result of Neath RFC and Swansea RFC combining to create a new merged entity, as part of the new regional structure of Welsh rugby, that began in 2003. They are also affiliated with a number of local semi-professional and amateur clubs, including Welsh Premier Division sides Aberavon RFC, Bridgend Ravens, and original founding clubs Neath and Swansea. The regional area represented by the team has widely become known for rugby purposes as 'Ospreylia'.
The Scarlets are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams and are based in Llanelli, Wales. Their home ground is the Parc y Scarlets stadium. They play in the United Rugby Championship and in European Professional Club Rugby competitions. The club was originally named the Llanelli Scarlets but was renamed at the start of the 2008–09 rugby season.
Gavin Michael Thomas is a Welsh former international rugby union player who played as a flanker. He played his club rugby for Tondu, Bridgend, Bath, the Ospreys, the Scarlets and the Newport Gwent Dragons, and was capped 24 times for Wales.
Deiniol Jones is a Welsh former professional rugby union player who played as a lock. Born in Carmarthen, he played for the Carmarthen Quins youth team before moving to study chemistry at the University of Bath in 1997. There, he was picked up by English Premiership side Bath RFC, where he played for three years before a loan move back to Wales with Ebbw Vale. In 2001, he made a permanent move to Bridgend, and two years later he was signed by the newly formed, Bridgend-based regional side Celtic Warriors. The Warriors only lasted one year before folding, after which Jones moved to Cardiff Blues.
Kenneth James Owens is a former Welsh rugby union player who played as a hooker for the Scarlets and Wales. He made his debut for the Scarlets in 2006, taking over from Matthew Rees as their first-choice hooker upon Rees' departure for the Cardiff Blues in 2013. He also served as backup to Rees, among others, for Wales following his debut against Namibia at the 2011 Rugby World Cup. In 2016, he took over as Wales' first-choice hooker, and in January 2023, following almost a year out with a back injury, he was named as captain for the 2023 Six Nations Championship.
Steve Tandy is a Welsh rugby union former player and coach. He played for Welsh region Ospreys for the majority of his career and went on to become head coach of the region after his retirement. He is now defence coach at Scotland with a coaching role within the British and Irish Lions in 2021.
Gareth Owen is a Welsh rugby union player who plays at Centre, Fullback and Flyhalf. He currently plays for Newcastle Falcons in England's second division, the RFU Championship.
Rhys Webb is a Welsh rugby union player who plays as a scrum-half. Born in Bridgend, he is a product of the Ospreys academy and played club rugby for Bridgend and Aberavon before breaking into the regional side in 2008. He played for the Ospreys for 10 years before moving to French club Toulon in 2018, but terminated his contract with them in 2020 and agreed a return to the Ospreys; however, he was unable to join the Ospreys immediately and signed for Bath for the remainder of the 2019–20 season before returning to the Ospreys.
Tom Prydie is a Welsh rugby union player. A fullback who can also play on the wing, Prydie is the youngest player ever to represent the Wales national team and the youngest player in the history of Europe's top rugby union club competition, the Heineken Cup.
Scott Baldwin is a Welsh rugby union coach and former Welsh international rugby union player. He played as a hooker for the Ospreys, Harlequins and Worcester Warriors.
Tom Grabham is a Welsh former professional rugby union player who played as a wing or scrum-half. Prior to retirement, Grabham played for the Scarlets and the Ospreys.
Alex Jeffries is a Welsh former professional rugby union player who played as a prop. He retired from rugby due to a neck injury in April 2023.
Luke Morgan is a Welsh rugby union player who plays for the Ospreys as a wing. Born in Bridgend, Wales, he was a Wales under-20 and Wales Sevens international.
Gareth Bowen is a Welsh former rugby union footballer who played as a fly-half. Born in Aberdare, he played for Bridgend, Bedford, Bristol, Llanelli, Scarlets, Neath, Aurillac, Ebbw Vale and Newport.
The 2021–22 season was the 18th in the history of the Scarlets, a Welsh regional rugby union side based in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire. In this season, they competed in the inaugural United Rugby Championship and the Champions Cup. It was Dwayne Peel's first season as head coach of the region, following the departure of his predecessor Glenn Delaney.
