By Ben James

Copyright walesonline

Here are your rugby evening headlines for Friday, September 26. Scarlets fans will protest controversial plans to cut the number of regions before their team’s opening United Rugby Championship game against Munster on Saturday. The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) has proposed halving the number of professional regions from four to two. Supporters plan to march from the old Stradey Park rugby posts to Parc y Scarlets in a bid to save their club. The march takes place at 1pm, ahead of the Scarlets’ clash with Munster at 5pm, and will be started with a personal message from former scrum-half Rupert Moon. “This is a fantastic opportunity for Scarlets fans to come and show how much the club means to them, and we are expecting a large number of people to attend from across the region as a whole, not just Llanelli ,” said one of the march organisers, Helen Davies. “The message has been for fans to wear their colours, bring their flags and banners, and to turn up in our numbers to show the WRU what this wonderful club means to us.” Another of the march organisers, Andrew Gough, said: “Of the four regions, the Scarlets are the only one which has Welsh culture and language in the forefront of its identity, from the number of Welsh-speaking fans to the number of Welsh language songs heard on the terraces on matchdays. It is vitally important that this is protected in the future of Welsh rugby.” Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby. Catherine Davies, another organiser, said: “Rugby means more to the fans than raw data, which is something that I don’t think the WRU have understood in their consultation. After all, what is the point of sport without fans? Hopefully, the WRU will see the response from the supporters and start to understand how much the clubs and identities mean to the people and their communities.” Club captain Josh Macleod has shown his support for the protest, saying: “It’s showing the real community spirit here in west Wales and it’s great to be part of. “There’s a lot of love shown from fans. They turn out in numbers and it shows the club means something to them.” Macleod is chairman of the Welsh Rugby Players’ Association (WRPA) which has already spoken out against the WRU’s proposed two-club model. Scotland are closing in on a replacement for new Wales head coach Steve Tandy. Tandy left his job as defence coach with Scotland to take over Wales, being confirmed as Warren Gatland’s permanent successor earlier this year. That has left Gregor Townsend searching for a new defence coach, with Northampton Saints defensive guru Lee Radford seemingly his choice. Scotland Rugby News report that no deal has been agreed , but negotiations are under way with the former rugby league international. One sticking point could be Northampton’s reluctance to let Radford leave with immediate effect. “We are reaching the final stage of our recruitment process for a new assistant coach and will provide an update at an appropriate time,” read a statement from the Scottish Rugby Union. Wales fly-half Dan Edwards believes the Ospreys can have a crack at making the URC play-offs this season. The club reached the top eight in 2024 under Toby Booth, but didn’t make it last season after Booth left earlier than expected. However, ahead of Mark Jones’ first full season in charge, there’s perhaps reason to believe the Ospreys can record a top-half finish in the league once again. “There’s a lot of belief,” Edwards told Premier Sports. “We’ve got to win the games with the teams around us. “Every game is massive in the URC. Not just playing against the top teams, but the teams around us and below us. “Everyone takes points off each other and it goes down to the last weekend, as we’ve seen in the last two years.” Springbok captain Siya Kolisi has billed their penultimate Rugby Championship match against Argentina in Durban on Saturday as a “semi-final” . With all four sides still in contention for the title, the final two rounds promise to be action-packed. “We all know what’s at stake,” said Kolisi. “They are a team that brings physicality and skill, so they are certainly not going to just give this game to us. “So, for the team, it will be about doing our best to give ourselves the best possible chance to win the match and stay in the running for the title. Kolisi added: “The Pumas are extremely professional on and off the field, and they always play with passion, so we are under no illusions about the challenge ahead. “But at the same time, we want to do something we’ve never done before, and that’s to win back-to-back Rugby Championship titles in a row, so we have a lot of motivation within this group as well. “We are also mindful of the fact that they are still in the title race, so they’ll give everything. “For us, it’s not about putting on a show. We are playing Test rugby, and this match is basically a semi-final for us because Argentina, the All Blacks, and Wallabies can also still win the Castle Lager Rugby Championship, so for us the focus is on getting the desired result. “Obviously, it will be the last match that some of our families will be able to be with us and support us, so we do want to thank them and our supporters with a good performance, but we also know that with us playing at home, the Pumas will feel that the pressure is on us.”