The United Rugby Championship (URC) is on hold while four rounds are played in the Nations Championship.

Cardiff and Dragons are setting the pace on 14 points, with the seventh-placed Blue and Blacks edging in front on win count.

Ospreys and Scarlets have work to do but have got their tough double-headers in South Africa out of the way.

There has also been a round of European rugby, with the Blue and Blacks losing in the Champions Cup and the other three winning in the second-tier Challenge Cup.

How will the Welsh quartet reflect on a first chunk of the season that featured a derby in every league round?

Cardiff

Cardiff were Wales' standard bearers in 2025-26 when they finished sixth and qualified for the play-offs for the first time.

The Blue and Blacks have been a mixed bag, but got a crucial 26-0 win against Ospreys in Swansea to finish.

"We have been fighting for a performance like that all of this first block," said lock Josh McNally.

"The group is in a really good place and everybody is aligned with what we want to do. When it clicks we can put in a performance like that."

It was a strong response to a rare poor display at the Arms Park against Sharks, which had the mitigation of a five-day turnaround from a defeat by English champions Northampton.

Taine Basham has been a stand-out performer at number eight to earn a Wales recall, while hugely promising 20-year-old centre Steffan Emanuel capped a strong first block with a man-of-the-match performance at Ospreys.

"The break is at a decent time which will allow us to work on stuff we haven't been so great at, then go again for a massive run of games," said head coach Corniel van Zyl.

Cardiff will mix their URC play-off bid with facing top-tier European opposition in the next block.

They have a mouth-watering home Champions Cup fixture against Bath in December, then games against Stade Francais and Montpellier.

Dragons

Dragons head coach Filo Tiatia declared that he was content with their first block after his side avoided a slip against winless Zebre.

"I am happy with where we are, but we have a lot of work to do," he said.

"The next block is so important and it's five weeks before we hit Edinburgh, then there are nine games to Munster at the end of January.

"We need everyone fit, fresh and ready to scrap for the club."

The November break is timely for Dragons, whose squad was creaking for Zebre.

They were without 18 players due to five Wales calls and injuries, while several players were bruised and battered.

That comes after an encouraging first block that featured three wins, a draw and a missed opportunity at Benetton but two disappointments against Ospreys.

Dragons got their Challenge Cup campaign off to a winning start against Perpignan and have 14 points in the URC.

That is half of last year's total, although they are yet to play a side that made the 2026 play-offs and none of those they have faced are in the current top half.

The driving line-out has been a weapon, Tonga wing Anzelo Tuitavuki has scored tries in five successive games and the attack looks more threatening.

"We got some stats through at the end of last season around where we sat in terms of our attacking game," said coach Matt O'Brien.

"We were pretty good at our launch stuff - our line-out and scrum attack - but our unstructured game needed a bit of work.

"We focused heavily on that and have had some good improvements, with our offloading one of those areas."

Dragons will hope their Wales contingent of Aneurin Owen, Che Hope, Dillon Lewis, Ben Carter and Seb Davies, Argentina prop Rodrigo Martinez and Tongans Tuitavuki, Fetuli Paea and Fine Inisi come back unscathed.

• Benetton 19-19 Dragons

Ospreys

It looked set to be an encouraging first block for Ospreys until they were thumped by Cardiff and Mark Jones’ side will spend the next month reflecting ruefully on such a humbling home defeat in a local derby.

Ospreys racked up the air miles while major work was done to get St Helen's ready for their Swansea homecoming.

Jones has given 35 players starts, rotating due to a schedule that saw them play in Durban, Johannesburg, Newport and Tbilisi.

Former Australia captain Liam Wright has been a positive as he attempts to put several years of injury misfortune behind him.

The blind-side flanker has started all five URC games and impressed with his work rate, line-out skills and leadership.

A rib injury suffered on debut means that former Wallabies wing Marika Koroibete has not been able to make the same impact in the first block.

A double of Dragons, with a maximum 10 points, ensures that is remains a solid start, despite being nilled by Cardiff.

Jones said: "We are still a big work in progress. There is lots to do in our game, including the consistency with which we do things.

"It was a nice little reminder of the level that you need to get to in the URC if you want to get victories."

Three of Ospreys' next four fixtures are at St Helen's - with champions Leinster next up on Friday, 4 December.

"We've got to ponder on the Cardiff defeat and get the work in, because you can't expect results for work you don't do," said Jones.

Scarlets

Scarlets, like Ospreys, have got their South Africa trip out of the way and took encouragement from their games at Stormers and Bulls despite two losses.

Nigel Davies' side made another slow start to the campaign with derby defeats against Cardiff and Scarlets.

They appear to have rediscovered their swagger in recent weeks with an expansive approach, while number eight Fletcher Anderson has shown his value on his return from injury.

The New Zealander has added big ball-carrying threat to go along with the wide threat that has earned four try bonuses in five URC games, and a Wales call-up for livewire wing Macs Page.

However, Zebre are the only team to have conceded more than their 29 tries.

New defence coach Eamon O'Carroll completed the Super League season with St Helens and has plenty of work to do.

"In terms of the style of rugby, how we want to go about our business and the behaviours from players on the field, we're seeing a lot of real positives and we're tracking in the right direction," said director of rugby Davies before the defeat by Bulls.

"They've grown as a group. We weren't really firing on all cylinders in the first couple of games, we've started to find our feet a little bit."

Scarlets return to action with a home fixture against Connacht before three away games on the bounce, Sharks in the Challenge Cup, Munster and Ospreys.