The Blues, drawn against Bourgoin, previous champions Leicester Tigers and defending champions Munster, admittedly faced an uphill struggle to progress in the 2006–2007 competition. The Welsh region began their campaign successfully with a first win on French soil in the Heineken Cup. Bourgoin put on a poor early performance to allow the Blues an early lead, through two penalties from former All Black Ben Blair. A try-scoring effort from young wing Chris Czekaj was disallowed in the first half but Martyn Williams secured the Blues’ win with a sixty-eighth minute try. Blair converted to push the Blues’ lead to 13-0 but this deficit was reduced two minutes from time due to a Brice Monzeglio try. With the conversion going awry the Blues held onto the 13-5 win to deny the French side a losing bonus point.

The second pool match saw the Blues host the Leicester Tigers at the Millennium Stadium following on from their Celtic League success at the venue the previous season, the Blues hoped that a full fortress-like Millennium Stadium would do to Leicester what it did to Leinster. Nicky Robinson put the home side ahead following a superb try whilst Ollie Smith cancelled the score with a try of his own. Tom Varndell secured a second try for the Tigers to push them ahead but Chris Czekaj attained a score in kind following a mistake from fly half Andy Goode. The Tigers took a narrow one point advantage into the interval and added to this with a penalty after the break. In the crucial point of the match the Blues’ Gary Powell was red-carded in the fifty-second minute for headbutting in a scrum. Despite this Ben Blair executed a brilliant penalty to draw the margin back to a single point but a drop goal from Sam Vesty settled the 17-21 Tigers’ victory; the Blues took away a consolatory losing bonus point, which was likely to console the team very little.

In another hard-fought home match the Blues felt the might of Munster at the Cardiff Arms Park. The Blues took an early six point lead courtesy of two Ben Blair penalties but failed to take advantage of a depleted Munster side when they had a man sin-binned. Ronan O’Gara secured the first three-pointer for the Irish and shortly after Martyn Williams was harshly yellow-carded for an accidental high-tackle. The Irish succeeded where the Welsh had failed and took advantage of their extra man as Denis Leamy easily crossed the Welsh region’s line for a try, converted by O’Gara. He secured another Munster penalty soon after, taking the Irish lead to 13-6. After the half-time respite the Blues came back strongly as Blair reduced the gap to just a single point but the champions piled on the pressure; O’Gara successfully kicked a couple of penalties to stretch the lead to seven points completing his personal haul with a final penalty in the closing minutes of the game to take the final score to 12-22, denying the Blues another losing bonus point. In the fourth round match a week later, the second in a row against Munster the Irish champions delivered a heavier margin of defeat on the Welsh region, winning 32-18. Two tries from Leamy gave Munster the early advantage but Jamie Robinson secured a score to reduce the deficit to seven points, 20-13, at the break. Barry Murphy and Mark Lewis exchanged tries on the restart but in the final play of the game Alan Quinlan crossed the Blues line for the fourth Irish try and resulting bonus point.

In the second meeting with Leicester Tigers the Cardiff Blues succumbed to a six try defeat in which they were unable to put a single point past the opposition. First half scores from Alesana Tuilagi, Danny Hipkiss, Daryl Gibson and Seru Rabeni set up a 24-0 half-time advantage that the Blues were unlikely to come back from. England internationals Lewis Moody and Martin Corry finished off the Leicester rout to promote the Guinness Premiership side to the head of the Pool Four table above Munster. In their final match of the 2006–2007 tournament the Cardiff Blues hosted Bourgoin at the Cardiff Arms Park. In this no-pressure game for both teams, as both were firmly placed at the foot of the Pool Four table, Kiwi Ben Blair began proceedings with an early try. Blair soon after crossed for his second of the match with Nicky Robinson kicking the extras. Georgian prop Davit Khinchagishvili secured a five pointer for the visitors, reducing the Blues’ lead to 17-5. Nick Macleod secured the third score whilst Mark Rennie and Jean-Francois Coux secured tries for the French side. Pascal Peyron gained the fourth try for Bourgoin to earn a bonus point and the conversion levelled the scores. Yet Robinson retained his one hundred per cent kicking record as he eased over a late penalty to achieve the narrow 27-24 win for the Welsh region to end their Heineken Cup competition on a high note.

Pool Three saw the Ospreys take on Sale Sharks, Calvisano and the fifth seed Stade Francais. The region first dealt with the Guinness Premiership's Sale Sharks team at home in a tightly contested narrow victory. A Shaun Connor penalty and try from Shane Williams set up an early Ospreys lead but Sale responded almost immediately. Following a blunder in their own 22 the Sharks secured their first try through Fernandez Lobbe. Charlie Hogdson converted and although he failed on two attempts at goal he secured one penalty to level the scores in first half injury time, following the sin-binning of Brent Cockbain. The England fly half secured Sale’s second penalty shortly after the resumption of the game and booted the side six points clear with a third penalty with only three minutes of play remaining. With an English win looking likely the Ospreys moved into a higher gear; Lee Byrne fed fellow Welsh international wing Williams to secure his brace of tries. James Hook stepped up to successfully convert the final try under immense pressure to secure the Ospreys’ 17-16 victory in the dying embers of injury time.

The Ospreys travelled to Paris for their next pool match against Stade Francais. An early Sonny Parker try highlighted a bright start for the Welsh region, following an earlier penalty from David Skrela. The French fly half secured two more penalties before he left the field through injury but the score remained 9-7 in favour to the French as the teams departed for the dressing rooms; Gavin Henson failed on two drop goal attempts to increase the Ospreys’ tally. He missed two penalties after the restart as well as Lionel Beauxis secured a three pointer for the French whilst Italian Mirco Bergamasco crossed the Welsh try line. Rodrigo Roncero added to the Stade try count but the valiant Ospreys refused to resign themselves to defeat as Lee Byrne added a try for good measure. However, a Sergio Parisse drop goal ended the encounter at 27-14 in which the Ospreys failed to reap the benefits of a lifeless display from the French.

Round three in Pool Three saw the Ospreys travel to Italy to take on Calvisano. The Welsh region gained an eight-try, bonus point winning performance at the Centro Sportivo San Michele; Justin Marshall, Shane Williams, Huw Bennett, James Hook and Sonny Parker all crossed the line in the first thirty minutes. Lorenzo Cittadini hit back after the half hour for Calvisano yet the Italians were never likely to come back from the large 13-33 half-time deficit. The Ospreys restarted strongly as both Williams and Marshall attained a try each to complete their braces, whilst Lee Byrne rounded off the rout. The valiant Italians gained two consolatory tries late on through Alessandro Zanni and Roland de Marigny to reduce the final margin to 27-50.

The Ospreys gained another victory over the Italian outfit a week later, though by a reduced scoreline, to secure the top spot in the Pool Three table above Stade Francais. The region gained a 26-9 victory over the visitors through tries from Ryan Jones, Lee Byrne, Adam Jones and Andy Lloyd. Calvisano were only able to attain three penalties from the boot of Roland de Marigny in a stronger showing than the previous tie but the fourth Osprey try from Lloyd secured the bonus point and the table lead. The Ospreys hosted the crucial clash with table rivals Stade Francais at the Liberty Stadium in the fifth pool game. David Skrela and James Hook both notched a penalty each, after both missing their initial attempts, but Juan Martin Hernandez gained the first try of the match for Stade, albeit courtesy of a previous forward pass. Hook’s second penalty was outdone by a drop goal and penalty from Skrela as the visitors took a 6-16 lead into half-time. The teams exchanged a penalty each on the restart and Hook followed this with another penalty to stem the French dominance. Nikki Walker went under the uprights for an Osprey try to draw the scores closer and Hook’s boot took the Welsh region in front just five minutes from time. However, the Welsh win did not come as Lionel Beauxis secured a fifty metre penalty in injury time to close the match at a 22-22 draw.

In their final pool match the Ospreys took on Sale in a dramatic finale to their Heineken Cup campaign. The Ospreys scored fifteen points in as many minutes at the start of the enthralling encounter thanks to early tries from Stefan Terblanche and Steve Tandy. Juan Fernandez Lobbe grabbed a try for the Sharks after the interval but the English side failed to score any further points after the conversion whilst Gavin Henson added a penalty to the Ospreys tally to close the scoring at 7-18. Due to the Ospreys’ failure to attain a bonus point victory they missed out on a runners-up, quarterfinal qualifying position, losing out to the Northampton Saints.

Contrastingly, the Scarlets powered through to the quarter-finals of the prestigious tournament and became only the fifth team in the history of the Heineken Cup to win all of their pool matches. Drawn against former champions Toulouse and Ulster, the Scarlets travelled to London Irish for their first pool clash. In a quiet first half the home side outscored the Scarlets on penalties 6-3 before Dafydd James secured the first Scarlet try. Further scores from Simon Easterby, Mark Jones and Iestyn Thomas secured the bonus point for the visitors but they had to withstand a fightback from the Exiles. Phil Murphy, Seilala Mapusa and Delron Armitage reduced the deficit but the Scarlets hung onto their 25-32 victory as London Irish gained a losing bonus point from the narrow loss. The Scarlets’ second match of their campaign saw them host Ulster at Stradey Park. An early try for Regan King set the home side’s advantage but as Stephen Jones and David Humphreys exchanged kicks at goal the half-time score was a slim 11-6 in favour to the Welsh region. Mark Jones gained a try for the Scarlets in the second half yet as Humphreys continued metronomically with the boot the Irish pressured to the last as the Scarlets clung onto a 21-15 win.

The Scarlets hosted three-times Heineken Cup champions Toulouse in the third round game of Pool Five. Scottish international Scott MacLeod notched up an early try for the Welsh region following a French mistake; Stephen Jones converted and added two penalties to extend the Scarlet advantage to 13-0. The French hit back through a superb score from Vincent Clerc, and another from Clement Poitrenaud narrowed the Scarlet advantage to just a point. Clerc gained his second score of the game to draw the Toulouse lead to 13-19 yet the Scarlets, though shaken, responded with an excellent try from Simon Easterby. Jones converted to restore the one point lead, 20-19, and as the French visitors missed a penalty and a drop goal in the tense closing minutes the Scarlets made it three wins out of three in the competition.

In the return leg the Welsh region faced Toulouse at the Stade Ernest Wallon. Despite an early lead through a Stephen Jones penalty the French dominated the early stages of the game. Clement Poitrenaud scored a brace of tries, sandwiching a Gaffie du Toit drop goal, before he gained a hat-trick on the half hour mark, extending the French lead to 24-3. Dafydd James secured a try before the half time interval to reduce the deficit somewhat, although the Welsh region still trailed by two converted scores. Seven minutes after the restart Poitrenaud claimed a fourth try, gaining the bonus point for his club, to once more put Toulouse twenty-one points ahead. The Scarlets retaliated with two scores in three minutes from Darren Daniel and Barry Davies. Jones converted both and exchanged a penalty with Valentin Courrent before Daniel attained his brace to remarkably level the scores. In the enthralling remaining minutes the Scarlets held off French pressure and Nathan Thomas secured the Welsh region’s fifth try, the boot of Jones sealing the fantastic win.

The Scarlets travelled to Ravenhill for their fifth round match and successfully secured their quarter-final place in the Heineken Cup. Ulster secured an early lead through a Tommy Bowe try, against the run of play. Alix Popham, after his return from the sin-bin, reduced the deficit as the teams headed into the dressing rooms. The Scarlets gradually gained control of the game and the scoreline as Regan King and Morgan Stoddart achieved tries. In the dying minutes of the game, as Ulster lost heart in the terrible weather conditions, Dwayne Peel and Gavin Thomas both crossed in injury time to seal the 11-35 victory, bonus point and quarter-final berth. The Scarlets hosted London Irish at Stradey Park in the final pool-stage match. The home side attained early tries through Dwayne Peel and Dafydd James to create a 17-6 lead at the interval. The visitors made a bright restart as Shane Geraghty scored a try, converted his own effort and shortly afterwards slotted over a penalty to reduce the Scarlets’ advantage to just a point. Despite this comeback Stephen Jones added a penalty to secure the 20-16 scoreline and one hundred per cent victorious record.

Following their impressive performances the Scarlets set a record for most points achieved in Pool stages since the competition adopted a bonus point system in the 2003–2004 season (though this record would be broken two hours later by Biarritz, who also won all of the their Pool matches). The Welsh region achieved a home quarterfinal draw against reigning Heineken Cup champions Munster, to be played at the end of the March. Other quarter-finals would see the London Wasps host Leinster, Biarritz take on Northampton and two previous champions, Leicester and Stade Francais, would meet at Welford Road, with the winner set to meet the victors of the Scarlets’ match.

The sole Welsh representative left in the competition, the Scarlets dominated the opening period of play at Stradey Park on March 30th. Although Stephen Jones missed a relatively easy early penalty the Scarlets were soon on the scoreboard courtesy of the Heineken Cup’s record try scorer Dafydd James. James furthered his try tally to 28 following excellent work from the Scarlets pack and a cross field kick from scrum half Peel. Jones made amends for his earlier penalty miss as he converted the try and as Ronan O’Gara, who was stand-in Captain for the night as Paul O’Connell missed the clash due to injury, missed his first penalty the scoreline remained at 7-0. Though O’Gara was on form with his tactical kicking his place kicking suffered with the swirling wind; his second penalty also went adrift. Comparatively, Barry Davies was selected by the Scarlets for long range efforts and he increased the points deficit to ten with a penalty from inside his own half.

The Scarlets added to their ten point advantage before the half-time whistle was blown. A drive forward from the impressive Matthew Rees and try scorer James enabled Gavin Thomas to touch down and as Jones once more added the conversion the home side took a substantial 17-0 lead into the break.

The defending champions began strongly on the restart yet the Scarlets easily quelled the early Irish pressure. After two try-scoring efforts from Mark Jones and Davies, Munster’s Captain finally put the first points on the board; O’Gara at last found the uprights with a penalty as the game entered the final quarter. Munster’s fortunes increased soon after with the sin-binning of Scarlet Inoke Afeaki and with the advantage of an extra man their first try was soon scored by Ian Dowling in the corner, though the final move included a forward pass from former All Black Christian Cullen. With the conversion missed Munster trailed 17-8. However, a superbly executed try finished off by Davies settled the match. Alix Popham produced a bone-shattering tackle on Munster flanker David Wallace, which was followed up by some superb work from Jones, Peel and Regan King to send Davies over for the final Welsh try of the night. Jones converted to push his side into a commanding 24-8 lead and although Donnacha Ryan obtained a consolatory Munster try to make the scoreline a little more respectable, the night firmly belonged to the Welsh region that progressed to the semi-final of the Heineken Cup, looking to make it third time lucky.

The Scarlets arrived at the Walkers Stadium with the only unbeaten record of the four semi-finalists and were seeking their first success at this stage after two previous failures in club guise before regionalism. They met the Leicester Tigers in the semi, following their slender defeat of Stade Francais, who were gunning for an historic treble-winning season. They had overpowered Welsh region the Ospreys to the EDF Energy Cup and entered the semi-final clash sitting at the top of the Guinness Premiership, hoping to claim English club rugby’s silverware.

Prolific Tiger Andy Goode attained the first points for Leicester with a penalty from the halfway line and added another shortly after, though the inside of the upright had to ease the oval ball over. Stephen Jones added a Welsh effort to get the Scarlets on the scoreboard but failed to draw the scores level with a second; the result of Leicester fullback Geordan Murphy receiving a ten minute spell in the sin bin for killing the ball. Goode redressed the six point advantage with his third penalty with Barry Davies failing to make the distance with a long range attempt. Goode added further to his personal points haul, turning mounting pressure into the first Leicester try. Spotting a space in the Welsh region’s midfield he burst through Matthew Rees and Gavin Thomas for the game’s initial try, which he duly converted himself. With half-time approaching the Scarlets reduced the Tigers lead to just six points. Former All Black Regan King chipped the ball over the Leicester defence for Wales winger Mark Jones to gather and successfully touch down. Stephen Jones secured the tricky conversion from the touchline, albeit using the inside of the upright to guide the ball over.

The Scarlets began the second half trailing 16-10. Just four minutes after the restart Irish referee Alain Rolland sent a prop from each side off the field and to the sin-bin for fighting, Alex Moreno and Deacon Manu. The Scarlets soon took advantage of the space in the Tigers’ defence. King once again filled the role of creator as he sent Matthew Rees over in the corner; Stephen Jones’s conversion pushed the Welsh into a narrow lead for the first time in the game. The lead though was to be short-lived as Goode provided a superb kick into space in the Scarlets’ defensive territory and created a try-scoring effort for flanker Shane Jennings. Goode pushed the Tigers into a ten point lead as he secured his fourth penalty of the afternoon shortly afterwards.

Despite gathering momentum the Scarlets missed opportunities from Rees and Davies, and a certain try had Dafydd James made use of a four-man overlap, and were caught out soon after by a counter-attack from the Tigers. Jennings, once more in the heart of the action, provided a chip ahead for Sam Vesty but Davies just kicked the ball over the dead ball line. However, mounting pressure and a series of drives broke the Welsh defence; Louis Deacon crossed over from close range for a try four minutes from time to seal the win and a place in an all-English Heineken Cup Final for Leicester Tigers.

There was one final note of interest to the Welsh season in the Heineken Cup with knock-out stage interest now frustratingly at a halt as the Newport Gwent Dragons faced Calvisano at Rodney Parade in an attempt to qualify for the 2007-2008 competition.

In a match that was deadlocked going into injury time it looked as though extra time was beckoning and Calvisano had more than matched their Welsh opposition for eighty minutes. Then, as if to make amends for the previous season, Paul Emerick, who as an Overmach Parma player had scored a play off try to put the Dragons out of the 2006-2007 competition with only the consolatio of the European Challenge Cup, stepped up to score for the Dragons this time round and win the match.

Emerick's try not only secured 24th place in the overall draw for 2007-2008 Heineken Cup, but also ensured that for the following season four Welsh regions would once again compete and challenge at the summit of European rugby. With the Scarlets having reached the Heineken Cip semi-fnals and the Dragons having gone out in the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup this time round, the Welsh public could look forward again with a sense of competitive optimism to the season ahead.