As the league had been well and truly claimed by the Irish provinces the previous season - the trophy was lifted by Ulster with compatriot opponents Leinster and Munster following closely behind in the silver and bronze positions - Wales’s regions faced an almighty battle to rescue the cup trophy from the Emerald Isle, only the Blues had really competed in 2005-2006 finishing fourth.

The competition employed the same structure, teams and point-awarding system as the previous two seasons. Cardiff Blues, the highest placed Welsh region in the 2005–2006 season, would aim for their first elusive title whilst Llanelli Scarlets and the Ospreys, sixth and seventh placed respectively in the previous season, each sought their second title having won the first two trophies since the tournament’s reformation at the beginning of the 2003-2004 season. Meanwhile, Newport Gwent Dragons aspired to a position superior to the eighth place finish gained in the preceding season.

The opening round of fixtures pitted Ireland’s finest, newly crowned European champions Munster, against the previous season’s top Welsh performer Cardiff Blues. The Dragons faced an away day opener at Hughenden whilst the Ospreys welcomed Edinburgh to the Liberty Stadium. In a successful league opening match the Blues overpowered a depleted Irish side to grind out a 22-13 win, a first-ever opening round win in Celtic League history for the region. Four Nicky Robinson penalties proved the difference in the match in which young wing Chris Czekaj and man-of-the-match Scott Morgan both crossed the Irish line.

The Dragons rounded off the opening Friday night with a narrow away win over Glasgow, who had finished bottom of the pile in the previous league competition. Their slender 24-23 victory was courtesy of a Ceri Sweeney injury time drop goal, after the Welsh region had fought back from a twenty point deficit. Saturday evening on this initial weekend saw the Ospreys scrape a 17-11 success over the visiting Scots, with James Hook proving an omen for the future by securing four penalties on his regional debut for the side; a try from Welsh fullback Lee Byrne completed the Ospreys’ scorecard. Two penalties from Scottish international Chris Paterson and a Simon Webster try were enough to gain a losing bonus point for Edinburgh.

The Scarlets were the only Welsh side unable to gain a win on the opening weekend of the Magners League championship. Taking on defending champions Ulster at Ravenhill, the Scarlets led 16-11 at the interval but could not prevent a second half fightback by the Irish title-holders. Try scores from Paul Steinmetz and Mark Bartholomeusz granted Ulster the 31-16 victory as they attained twenty unanswered points to overcome the West Wales region.

The Ospreys suffered their first defeat of the season on the second weekend of the Magners League. The Welsh region were defeated 15-10 at the hands of Connacht; former All Black Justin Marshall’s try with the additional two points and a further penalty from Hook not enough to overcome the Irish side. Contrastingly, the Scarlets recovered from their opening round defeat to gain a triumphant victory over Glasgow Warriors, who suffered their second successive defeat at the hands of a Welsh region. A hat-trick of tries from the impressive youngster Darren Daniel and one apiece from Welsh internationals Gavin Evans and Dwayne Peel secured the bonus point victory.

Ulster proved their might once more over the Welsh as they secured their second victorious weekend with a 32-25 success over the brave and battling Dragons. The victory at Rodney Parade promoted the Irish region back to their now comfortable spot at the summit of the league table.

The Blues, who had enjoyed a bye weekend during the second round, faced regional rivals the Ospreys in a mid-week clash as the Magners League’s eagerly awaited local derbies got underway. Despite a slender 13-10 advantage at the interval the Blues were ultimately defeated by a Gavin Henson penalty and late try from replacement Richie Pugh. Whilst the match proved a true spectacle of regional derby rivalry, it was overshadowed by an horrific injury to Blues forward Robin Sowden-Taylor who landed awkwardly from a jumping challenge to break his leg and subsequently missed the majority of the season. In another all-regional mid-week battle the Scarlets only narrowly overcame the Dragons. In this second successive defeat at Rodney Parade the Dragons led 16-3 at the break but were ground down as the Scarlets, with a brace from Gavin Evans, forced the 23-22 win.

Mid September saw further wins for the Scarlets and Ospreys over Connacht and Border Reivers respectively. The Borders received another defeat courtesy of a Welsh region a week later when they hosted the Dragons at Netherdale. Kevin Morgan and prop Adam Black were on-form with try-scoring efforts whilst Ceri Sweeney’s boot furthered the scoreboard tally.

The Blues endured mixed fortunes throughout the rest of the first month of the tournament with an away loss to Leinster, the first win of the season for the Irish side, but a win over Glasgow on home soil made it seven home wins in a row. The Ospreys suffered a heavy 43-7 defeat in their fourth outing of the league against Irish giants Ulster whilst the Scarlets secured a happier result against Leinster, gaining a 33-21 victory at Stradey Park to put them at the top of the table.

The Magners League entered October with the Welsh regions back from EDF Energy Cup duty. Connacht gained another triumph over a Welsh region; having previously dispatched of the Ospreys in the second round they gained another home win as they clinched the 16-9 win over the Dragons at the Sportsground. Despite the Friday 13th date the Ospreys kept the jitters out of their game-play to record a 26-9 success over Glasgow at the Liberty Stadium. Although the visitors took an early 6-0 lead they were soon overwhelmed by tries from Nikki Walker, Sonny Parker, Steve Tandy and Shane Williams, which gained the Ospreys a bonus point to boot. The Blues were unable to gain a positive result in October as they suffered a defeat by the reigning Celtic League champions at Ravenhill. The five try showing by Ulster overshadowed the two Blue efforts from Chris Czekaj and replacement Wayne Evans and sought to strengthen the Irish side’s berth at the top of the pile of Celtic nations.

With European competition dominating the remainder of October the Magners League had to patiently wait for November to roll round for the next burst of Celtic competition. The Blues were involved in the opening November encounter, as they took on Edinburgh at the home of Scottish rugby. The Welsh region inflicted two injury time tries at Murrayfield, from Ben White and Tom James, to seal the somewhat cruel 23-13 victory on the Scottish side. Contrastingly, the Dragons failed to breathe fire away from home as they took on Leinster at Donnybrook. The Welsh region suffered a 35-13 defeat, in which Leinster Captain and Argentinean international Felipe Contepomi notched 25 points of his side’s total; tries from Dragons Gareth Wyatt and Richard Fussell proving only consolatory in the comprehensive defeat.

The Scarlets staged the final league match of the first weekend of November. The Bonfire Night date ensured that there were fireworks in the clash as the Scarlets obtained a dramatic win over their visitors, Munster. The reigning Heineken Cup champions trailed marginally 10-9 at the interval but a superb effort from Darren Daniel extended the Scarlets’ lead in the second half. With the Irish only able to add another penalty from Jeremy Manning, the sole Munster scorer in the match, the game was dramatically concluded in injury time as Barry Davies secured the bonus point victory with a last-gasp try, taking the final tally to 25-12.

The Ospreys, enjoyed a bye weekend at the beginning of November and had been able to turn their attention away from Magners League matters and entertain Australia on the first day of the month creating history in the process with the first-ever match between a region and a country. Depleted of several first team regulars due to international call-ups the younger Ospreys put in a dogged performance against Wales’s impending Invesco Perpetual Series opponents with Shaun Connor taking centre stage and single-handedly destroying the Wallabies in a marvellous second half comeback for the Welsh region. 

The remainder of November provided a few close results for the regional teams, with fixtures reduced due to the Celtic nations’ autumn international Test matches. The Dragons secured a superb 17-10 win over Edinburgh at Rodney Parade after staging a late comeback; the Welsh region overcame a 10-0 half-time deficit to score seventeen unanswered points in the second half. Tries from Nic Fitisemanu and Nathan Brew, and additional points from the boots of Craig Warlow and Aled Thomas, gave the side a much-needed first home victory of the league season thus far. The Scarlets also scraped a narrow win as they took on Border Reivers at Netherdale. Though the home side led narrowly at the break the Scarlets, largely through the boot of Ceiron Thomas, were able to grind out the 19-13 win and in doing so strengthened their second placed position in the Magners League table.

As the month drew to a close the Blues ground out a narrow win over Connacht at the Arms Park. A try in the second minute put the visitors into an early lead but precise kicking from former All Black Ben Blair sealed the 15-13 win, the fullback gaining all of the Blues’ points. One scoreline that did not reflect positively in favour of the Welsh was the result between the Ospreys and Munster. The match at Thomond Park saw the home side stretch a half-time advantage to 22-7 and although the Ospreys fought back to gain a twenty point haul in the match they could not undo the European champions, but took solace in the losing bonus point as the scores closed at 25-20.

With December dominated by European encounters for the Welsh regions, the first Magners League contest of the month came for two regional rivals just two days before Christmas Day. The Blues hosted the Ospreys in the first of many regional derbies between the Welsh sides pencilled in for the festive and New Year period. In front of a crowd just shy of 12,000 supporters, the Blues clinched a thrilling victory but notwithstanding an Ospreys fightback. The home side ran out a 27-6 lead in the first half following a brace of tries from Ben Blair and an early solo effort from Nicky Robinson. A second half comeback saw Filo Tiatia and Welsh international Ian Evans cross the Blues’ line but the home side held on for the dramatic 30-24 victory. The match was marred by a late red card for Martyn Williams that saw him miss the New Year derby against the Scarlets and a January clash with the Borders.

The Ospreys played their second game in three days as they hosted Llanelli Scarlets on Boxing Day at the Liberty Stadium. Witnessed by a capacity crowd the Ospreys ran riot over their regional rivals to notch a 50-24 victory, the worst defeat that the Scarlets had endured in the history of the Celtic League. James Hook gathered a personal haul of twenty-three points in the game and tries from Lee Byrne, Nikki Walker, Ryan Jones and replacements Lyndon Bateman and Andy Lloyd cemented the commanding scoreline. Consolation efforts from Gavin Evans and Dwayne Peel reduced the deficit a little but proved scant solace for the crushed Scarlets region.

The Dragons gained their second successive home victory in the Magners League a day later in a closely fought clash with the Blues. The Dragons used the large supporting home crowd to stretch a fourteen point lead through a Nathan Brew try and penalties from the boot of Ceri Sweeney. Although the Blues attained two tries through Captain Xavier Rush and replacement Ben White, fullback Ben Blair was unable to secure either conversion and with only a penalty to his name the Dragons hung on to their 14-13 victory, the Blues taking little comfort in their losing bonus point. Before the year 2006 was complete the Ospreys notched another home victory in the Magners League over the Dragons. James Hook slotted over three penalties in the torrid weather conditions to guide the Ospreys to their 12-6 win. Ceri Sweeney replied with two penalties for the Dragons but a 45 metre effort from Gavin Henson sealed the Ospreys’ second derby win in five days.

The Blues kicked off the New Year with a contest against the Scarlets at the Arms Park. To add further to the Scarlets supporters’ New Year’s headaches the region suffered a 29-10 defeat to mark their second successive defeat in a Welsh derby. Despite the sweeping wind the Blues were able to extend a first half advantage to 17-0, helped in part by the depletion of the Scarlets to thirteen men. Dafydd James and Ceiron Thomas were rewarded for their indiscipline with a yellow card each leading to tries for youngsters Chris Czekaj and Tom James. Though the Scarlets gained a converted penalty try and penalty goal from the previously punished Thomas, a Scott Morgan effort and late penalty try handed the Blues victory and the resultant winning bonus point.

Early January saw the Dragons triumph over Irish Giants Munster at Rodney Parade, and extend their unbeaten home run to six games. The Scarlets, meanwhile, continued their recent bad form away from home as they were unable to overcome the boots of Edinburgh’s Chris Paterson and Duncan Hodge at Murrayfield. The Blues found fellow Scots the Borders less of a problem as they dispatched the side 36-15 at the Arms Park, beating the bottom side in a five try showing including a brace from Rhys Shellard. The Ospreys, however, were unable to make it three victories from three as they felt the might of Leinster on Irish soil; the Donnybrook crowd witnessed nine tries in the high-scoring match yet Leinster gained two thirds of these and, with the help of Felipe Contepomi’s boot, eased to the 45-22 victory to maintain their excellent home form.

With the Welsh regions engaged in European battle for periods of January the Magners League continued only towards the close of the month. The Dragons resumed their fantastic league form on home soil as they put 48 unanswered points past Border Reivers, much to the delight of the Rodney Parade crowd. The seven try showpiece included a brace from prop Adam Black. The Blues and Scarlets were unable to follow the Dragons’ lead as they both encountered end of the month defeats to Glasgow and Leinster respectively, however, the Ospreys rounded off January with a 29-22 victory over Ulster, making it fourteen home wins in a row. A brace from Nikki Walker and nineteen points from Shaun Connor sealed the win for the Ospreys but the boot of Paul Steinmetz kept the Irish involved and they were able to take a losing bonus point from the Liberty Stadium.

Mid February brought winter blues to the Dragons and Scarlets as they incurred away losses to Ulster and Glasgow, although the Ospreys once more continued their superb home style. Trailing 10-8 at the half-time break against Connacht, the Ospreys emerged from the dressing room in resurgent mood to score 23 unanswered points with notable performances from try scorer Paul James and the on-form kicking of Lee Byrne.

With the RBS Six Nations disrupting the frequency of Magners matches the start of March witnessed the next stage of contests. In a superb weekend for Welsh rugby the regions made it four wins from four over their Celtic rivals. Just a day after the commemoration of Wales’s Patron Saint, the Dragons and Ospreys triumphed over Scots and the Blues achieved the double over the reigning European Champions.

The Dragons grabbed their second win of the season over Glasgow at a rain-sodden Rodney Parade; a game in which the pitch resembled a swimming pool. Ball handling and high scoring were incredibly difficult though young Wales U20 star Ashley Smith gained a try for the Dragons. The rest of the points were courtesy of Ceri Sweeney with Dan Parks obtaining only a single penalty for the visitors. The Ospreys also completed a double, over Edinburgh, when they took on the Scots at Murrayfield. The under-strength home side took an early lead yet it was not to last as the Ospreys crossed the Scottish line on five occasions to gain a bonus point winning, 30-12 success.

Meanwhile, the Blues travelled to Musgrave Park and enacted a 19-12 defeat on their hosts, gaining their first win in Ireland since 2005. Avenging their two Heineken Cup defeats by Munster earlier in the season, Ben Blair’s success with the boot and a try from Tom James, later to receive a call-up to Wales’s tour of Australia in May, gave the Welsh region their retribution. The following day the Scarlets rounded off the successful weekend with another defeat of an Irish team. They defeated Ulster 17-11 at Stradey Park following their early season loss to the team and subsequently ended their run of five straight defeats in the Magners League. Ceiron Thomas secured four penalties for the home side and replacement Barry Davies’s try cancelled out the effort of Andrew Trimble to make the Scarlets’ win a certainty.

With the conclusion of the RBS Six Nations the Magners League entered its final exciting stages. Late March witnessed the Scarlets get the better of the Dragons at the Stradey Park regional derby as they ran out convincing 35-11 winners. Extending their unbeaten home run to fourteen months the Scarlets dominated the run of play, attaining five tries with Ceiron Thomas adding two conversions and two penalties to his try-scoring effort. A try from Welsh international and Dragons Captain Kevin Morgan, and two penalties from Ceri Sweeney, barely dented the scoreline and could not prevent the bonus point victory for the home team.

Signifying the growing strength in the Welsh regions perpetuated somewhat by weekly league action, all four regions found themselves involved in Cup action during the course of March. Whilst the Scarlets and Dragons slugged it out in the Magners League clash, the Ospreys and Blues were locking horns for the third time in the course of the season as they contested the EDF Energy Cup semi-final at the Millennium Stadium with the Ospreys taking the spoils and the promise of a date with Leicester Tigers in the Final at Twickenham. The Dragons won the battle against Brive in the European Challenge Cup quarter-final to progress to the semi-final stage whilst produced the greatest stride of all was taken by the Scarlets who knocked out the Heineken Cup champions at the quarter-final stage in a professional display at Stradey Park.

The Scarlets picked up their Magners League form against the Dragons and produced another high-scoring showpiece in early April as they hosted the Borders at Stradey Park. The 53-11 scoreline speaking volumes, the Scarlets put nine tries past the Scottish side including a brace for young international Matthew Rees and Wales U20 hooker Ken Owens, just a week following their Heineken Cup quarter-final success over Munster.

Edinburgh claimed revenge over the Dragons for their previous Magners defeat by enacting a 30-20 scoreline on the visiting Welsh region. The Dragons had taken an early lead through Ceri Sweeney but conceded two quick in succession tries; Aled Brew countered for the Dragons to reduce the deficit but two more Scottish try-scoring efforts on the restart of the second half signalled the end of the Dragons’ hopes of an away win. The Ospreys, meanwhile, avenged their loss to Munster in November with a 20-12 James Hook-inspired win that promoted them to second in the Magners League table. Hook took the Ospreys into a 13-5 interval lead and a try from Justin Marshall proved enough to clinch the win, despite Irish tries from Brian Carney and Donnacha Ryan. The Blues rounded off the early-April weekend with a disappointing draw against Connacht, only sharing the spoils due to a late penalty from Ben Blair.

As the Magners League entered its last month, two Welsh regions were undone by their Irish counterparts. The Dragons suffered their second league defeat to Leinster, although the Irish victory was by a sole point in contrast to the twenty-two point margin in November. The Scarlets suffered the wrath of Munster at Musgrave Park as the Irish side enacted revenge for their Heineken Cup defeat just a few weeks previously. The Scarlets were unable to answer the twenty points put on the scoreboard by Munster courtesy of tries from Marcus Horan, Anthony Foley and Barry Murphy.

Cardiff Blues enjoyed a renaissance towards the end of the season to eventually put themselves in contention at the top of the table. Following a 48-0, eight try victory over Edinburgh at the Arms Park, in which they scored thirty-six points in less than a quarter of an hour, the region moved on to an impressive win over previous champions Ulster. The pulsating match resulted in Nick Macleod slotting over a drop goal, his third attempt, in injury time to seal the narrow 20-17 win and all but end Ulster’s hopes of retaining their Celtic crown.

A mid-week regional derby between the Ospreys and Scarlets saw the former triumph to a 19-6 victory. All of the Ospreys’ points were attained by the ever-impressive James Hook who completed a full scorecard with try, conversion, drop goal and three penalties to his credit. A crucial fixture, just days after this success, followed for the Ospreys as they entertained league leaders Leinster at the Liberty Stadium. A late penalty from Hook clinched the slender 19-17 win to set up a thrilling finale to the 2006–2007 Magners League. Having trailed 17-10 in the match, the Ospreys clawed themselves back into the game as Hook delivered three crucial penalties to seal the win.

The Blues maintained their sights on the silverware as they demolished a struggling Borders side 41-14 at Netherdale. Tom Shanklin, Mosese Luveitasau and Rhys Shellard all grabbed a brace of tries each in the match to secure the maximum points win and further their hopes of gaining the elusive league title. The last two league games in April saw the brave Dragons incur a 15-7 loss to Munster at Musgrave Park, just missing out on the losing bonus point, but the Scarlets secured an impressive 42-17 success over Edinburgh on home turf.

The Magners League entered May, with the final twelve days of the competition sure to bring an exciting conclusion to the season as three sides remained in contention in the race to the title.

The Blues climbed to the grand heights of the top of the Magners League table following a win over regional rivals the Dragons at the Arms Park. Mike Phillips scored a brace of tries for the Blues, with Captain Xavier Rush and Tom Shanklin cementing the bonus point. The Dragons were competitive throughout the game, as they attained tries through Gareth Maule and Joe Bearman, but they could not catch their derby opponents.

Both the Ospreys and Blues lost crucial away matches on the penultimate weekend of the league meaning that things would go right down to the wire. The Blues suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of the Scarlets and the Ospreys narrowly missed out, 29-26, to Glasgow at Hughenden, a match that would have ensured the last weekend became a procession for them hand they secured victory. As Leinster had secured an unanswered 31 points, bonus point winning victory over the Borders on the same weekend the three teams were all still in the running for the title as the competition entered the final hard slog.

A mid-week win for the Ospreys, over the Dragons, set up a nail-biting finale of Magners League action that would result in one of three teams winning the league trophy. The Blues took on title rivals Leinster at the Arms Park with the Irish side needing a bonus point win to clinch the title outright whilst the Ospreys faced their final opposition a day later in Scotland away to the Borders. An ordinary four point win for Leinster would mean that the Ospreys would have to win with a bonus point the following day. The Blues just had to concentrate on winning, four points would be enough to put them top as the greater number of wins to their name would ensure they sat above Leinster in the table; they would then have to pray for an Ospreys collapse at the Borders the next day.

The Blues, despite having less territory and possession took the spoils in the exciting encounter at the Arms Park preserving their season long unbeaten home record with a bonus point win. Tries from Robin Sowden-Taylor, Rhys Williams, Marc Stcherbina and Gareth Williams ensured the bonus point was secured with Sowden-Taylor opening the scoring to mark his return to form at the end of a season in which he had spent the majority of time recovering from a leg break. The Blues had done the job asked of them with the 27-11 triumph meant and were left to desperately hope for an Ospreys slip-up.

For the Blues, hope was all that remained and the Ospreys ensured that there was no slip-up in spite of an almighty battle from the soon to be disbanded Border Reivers team. On home soil, in what was to be their last match, the Borders gave a spirited performance to end their Magners League existence in style. The Ospreys gained an early try from Filo Tiatia, which Hook converted, but the Borders soon narrowed the gap to four points with a penalty goal. Though the Ospreys pushed 14-6 ahead at the break through a Sonny Parker try the resumption of the second half brought an Ed Kalman try for the Borders. The conversion and another penalty narrowed the Ospreys’ lead to a slender five points.

For a short burst in the match it looked like the champions-elect might fluff their lines in the dying moments but just as Blues supporters had started to raise their hopes of their team gaining a first title, James Hook secured a late penalty and the Magners League title to boot as the scores closed at 24-16.

The Ospreys had raised the Celtic League trophy for the second time in three seasons. With the Magners league silverware firmly back on Welsh soil, the 2006–2007 season proved to be one in which Wales’s regions came to the fore. Both the champions, the Ospreys, and runners-up, Cardiff Blues, separated by just a single point in the table, retained unbeaten home records for the duration of the league season. The Scarlets lost only once at home in the league, to regional rivals the Ospreys, and together with the Dragons, enjoyed fantastic performances in European competitions through to the semi-final stages. The Ospreys and Blues flew the flag for Wales in the (Anglo-Welsh) EDF Energy Cup with the Ospreys playing bravely in the Twickenham final. Although disappointment had swept through the region at this loss to the Leicester Tigers, the regaining of the domestic trophy proved consolation in the greatest sense.

The season had also seen some of the new generation of players come to the fore and easily cope with the step up and pressure of Magners League rugby. Morgan Stoddart found himself drafted to the Scarlets from Llanelli after player-of-the-month performances in the Principality Premiership, Ashley Smith and Gareth Maule turned in performances with the Dragons that ultimately saw them rewarded with Wales U20 caps, Rhys Shellard and Tom James burst onto the scene for the Blues from their positions in the Blues Academy, whilst 2005-2006 Best Principality Premiership Newcomer, Alyn Wyn Jones, stepped up from being a Swansea player to an Ospreys regular. Perhaps the greatest achievement belonged to nominee for the 2005-2006 Principality Premiership Player of the Season James Hook who added to his starring role in securing the 2005-2006 Principality Premiership title for Neath by assisting in the delivery of the 2006-2007 Magners League title for the Ospreys, the region of his former club.

With three of its regions sitting pretty in the top four of the Magners League table, Wales had enjoyed a season of enhanced and exciting regional rugby. The Ospreys’ victory also ensured that Welsh rugby’s continued domination of the league’s finishing standings since the move to regionalism with three out of four crowns taken by Welsh regions. With an improvement in their showings in both the EDF Energy and European Cup competitions throughout the course of the season to add to their Magners League placings, the Welsh regions were beginning to take a toe-hold in the previously secure rugby realm of the other European nations and the benefits of the regional system were beginning to be seen by all.