By 2005-2006, the Principality Premiership was firmly establishing itself as an integral part of the Welsh rugby structure; fundamental to sustaining the professional game in Wales by providing the first high level activity grounds for the regional and international stars of the future. By the end of the season, the Premiership’s increasing standard and status was reflected in the Wales Squad selection for the 2006 Argentina Tour made by Gareth Jenkins for his first outing in charge of the National Team.

Three Principality Premiership players were capped in Argentina as the more regular front line players for Wales were rested; James Hook of Neath, who also won a regional contract with the Ospreys, joined Alun Wyn Jones and Richard Hibbard of Swansea in their first international outings at senior level.
 
Hook started his Test career in spectacular fashion, scoring a try on his debut and featuring in both matches against Argentina. In effect, he emulated his role at Neath where he had been a key factor in ensuring that the Welsh All Blacks were crowned back-to-back Principality Premiership Champions at the end of 2005-2006. In total Hook contributed with 296 points for Neath, including nine of the club’s 141 tries.

Improving on 2004-2005, Neath claimed the Principality Premiership title with a near perfect record, suffering just two defeats in their thirty match league campaign; a 33-29 loss at home to Bedwas and 25-21 defeat away to Pontypridd. Once again the Gnoll side repeatedly outclassed the opposition as it raced to the title, finishing an incredible fifteen points ahead of second placed Bridgend. Wing Stephen Thomas ran in twenty-two tries along the way making him the league’s leading scorer in this area.

Rowland Phillips’s men were so far ahead of the rest that they sealed the title with three games to spare. Captain Steve Martin was able to lift the trophy early, after the club beat second-placed Bridgend 40-19 at home, thus extinguishing the second-placed chasers who would have been hoping to beat Neath to sustain the pressure a little longer. The second successive title was accompanied by Neath’s run to the 2006 Konica Minolta Cup Final, their second Final in three seasons, but there was to be no dream League and Cup double as the Welsh All Blacks came up against a Pontypridd side that put league respect on hold for eighty minutes.

Neath’s main title challengers throughout 2005-2006 were Bridgend, who bettered their previous season’s third place finish to come runners-up this time around; but still fifteen points adrift of the Champions. Back row forward Adam Whitney was the club’s top try scorer with twelve, whilst No.10 Gareth David totalled 266 points, making him the Principality Premiership’s third top scorer overall. With Maesteg’s return to the top flight, Bridgend also had a local derby to savour home and away once more; cranked up by the departure of several Bridgend backs to the Old Parish.
Pontypridd claimed third spot, a significant improvement on the tenth place the season before when they had struggled to maintain form. Outside half Dai Flanagan contributed 178 points and Wayne Evans scored eleven tries for the Sardis Road side. Buoyed by the return of their league form, Ponty went on a run in the Konica Minolta Cup which saw them lift the trophy in May 2006, defeating the newly crowned Principality Premiership Champions in the process.

There was little to choose from between Aberavon and Newport who finished fourth and fifth respectively. Aberavon’s fly half, Jamie Davies, achieved the distinction of top points scorer with a total of 375 for 2005-2006. Both Aberavon and Newport had fifty-seven points a piece, both recording nineteen wins and eleven losses in the final league table. Try count decided their final standings with the Wizards outscoring the Black and Ambers by eighty tries to fifty-eight. Newport’s season highlight was the 67-7 demolition of Llandovery at Rodney Parade, the club’s third all-time largest winning margin.
 
Llanelli had an average season after their trailblazing run the previous season which had seen them claim fourth spot and the Konica Minolta Cup. Llanelli finished in sixth, two places lower than the previous year. Swansea managed to go one better than before by securing seventh spot. The Whites recovered from an abysmal season opening of five straight defeats to finish their campaign in style with a 71-32 win over Bedwas at St Helen’s.

Bedwas had a better season than anticipated finishing eighth, five spots above their 2004-2005 position, and this in spite of only winning the same number of games as the previous season. Wing Michael Silcox ran in eleven tries over the course of the campaign.

Cross Keys were two points and one place behind Bedwas after a lacklustre season by their standards. They may have kicked off their campaign with four convincing wins, but the side ended the season in a massive slump losing all of their final eight matches.

It was a tight at the bottom of the table for the second time in three years, with only six points dividing the bottom seven teams. Cardiff started the season with a four-match losing streak, conceding ninety-one points in their opening two games. The side from the capital never really recovered from this in the final reckoning but did escape the mire of the basement eventually finishing tenth.

Glamorgan Wanderers secured their status in the top flight for another season having made a reasonable debut in the Principality Premiership. The Wanderers finished one point behind local rivals Cardiff in eleventh with No.8 Marcus Leach the club’s leading try scorer, crossing the line eight times for the men from the Memorial Ground across the course of the season.

Ebbw Vale finished a further place back in twelfth, a drop of one position from eleventh place at the end of 2004-2005. The Steelmen’s Simon Hunt scored 16 tries for the season, making him the Principality Premiership’s second most prolific try scorer after Neath’s Stephen Thomas. Thirteenth position proved lucky for Llandovery, who were the last club guaranteed a spot in the top flight for 2006-2007.

Maesteg, promoted along with Glamorgan Wanderers from Lloyds TSB Division One at the end of 2004-2005, nearly went straight back down. Their league form failed to match their run to the 2006 Konica Minolta Cup semi-finals and as a result of finishing fourteenth they had to compete against ASDA League One Champions Bonymaen in a play-off for the final place in the 2006-2007 Principality Premiership. Maesteg won the fixture played just after the close of the season to ensure their top flight status.

The move to reduce the Principality Premiership to fourteen teams at the beginning of 2006-2007 saw casualties at the bottom end of the table. Fifteenth and sixteenth place was not a finishing position many clubs wished to contemplate.

The once mighty Pontypool, effectively a front row production line in the 1980s and several time winners of both the Welsh Championship and WRU Challenge Cup over the years ended up relegated to ASDA League One East after finishing bottom of the table. The side endured a dismal nineteen defeats and three draws in their thirty league fixtures. They were joined by Camarthen Quins, who finished fifteenth, joining Pontypool suffering the disappointment of relegation. Despite finishing level with Maesteg, the Quins had a worse try-scoring record (with fifty-two compared to Maesteg’s sixty-four) proving the difference in league placings which effectively relegated them to ASDA League One West.

With Neath cantering to their second Principality Premiership title in as many seasons and nearly bagging the League and Cup double in the process, season 2006-2007 was set up nicely for them to attempt an unprecedented title treble.