Hey there. This is going to be the first of a series of blogs exclusive to the Western Telegraph where I hopefully give you all a bit more of an inside track on the world of rugby at the Scarlets.

This is a completely new kind of thing for me, so bear with me and make sure you give me plenty of comments back, it’s always nice to hear what people think (within reason!) We’re now back in the thick of it preparing for a very busy December on the field. It was great to have a week off rugby a fortnight ago, and the chance to go back home to Lamphey and catch up with my family and friends and just relax and switch off.

It’s been non-stop since we’ve been back though at Parc Y Scarlets – we’re training really hard now for a run of very big games coming up and all the boys are really up for it. So the coaches are giving us plenty to do, Brad Harrington our fitness guru has just come back from a stint with the Fiji coaching staff for their internationals (his Aussie mate runs their set-up) which means he’s come back ever more fired-up – not that he needed it mind!

The guys are back now from Wales camp and that also gives us more of a focus as a squad. We were all really gutted for the boys who picked up injuries but unfortunately that’s a part of rugby and we just have to focus on playing well now.

I think our Scarlets guys did really well playing for Wales. It was great to see Jon, Stephen and the boys on the international stage. What a tackle that was on Martin Roberts in the All Blacks game as well, Dan Carter absolutely leveled him, class! Mind you I do think it was a bit of a footballers dive on Mart’s part.

Like I said it’s great to have them back with us now. The shame is that Mark, Daf and Matthew are going to be out for a little while with injuries. It is obviously a huge disappointment for those guys and for us their team mates – but we have to focus on what we have in front of us and we know they’ll be back as soon as they can be.

What we are confident of is that we’ve got a good cover for positions this year and we have a lot of strength and depth.

The younger guys coming through have showed fantastic potential and it just gives us all a little bit more of an edge knowing that there’s always snapping at your heels ready to take your place. I know I’m really chuffed to be able to pull on the Scarlets jersey and represent my region. A little bit of competition is always good anyway isn’t it, keeps us all on our toes!

For the time being we can all get back to concentrating on regional rugby and put international rugby on stand-by until the Six Nations.

I’m really looking forward to the challenge that will come with Leinster and Ospreys. I’ll try and update you before Christmas on how my preparations are going and how the team is looking. If I don’t get round to it in between all the training, enjoy your turkey and mince pies and think of me having to watch what I eat on Christmas day so that I’m not too sluggish for the big game on Boxing Day against the Ospreys!

Have a Cracking Christmas and hope to see you down at Parc y Scarlets some time in December - we need our fans to cheer us on!

DOM