Round 11 of the Welsh Championship features plenty of Welsh regional talent this weekend.

The clash began on Thursday night when Pontypridd recorded their third successive win with a 29-20 victory over Carmarthen Queens at Sardis Road. Ponty center Ben Burnell returned to the club after the Jersey Reds’ collapse and trained with Cardiff Rugby, while Archie Hughes, playing for the Scarlets scrum, started and was booked for Queens.

With five games on Saturday, who are the professional players who will represent their semi-professional clubs alongside the former Welsh international?

The quartet is involved on the Dragons side.

Dragons coach Dai Flanagan revealed how strong the relationship is between the professional club and the three semi-professional teams. At a press conference this week, Flanagan said: “There is a real harmony in our region and that is fantastic and we want to do that.

“All of our semi-professional clubs in our region are involved, whether it’s Ebbw Vale, Pontypool or Newport, they all understand the bigger picture for us and the player. “They want to win, don’t get me wrong: Jason (Strange), Ty (Tyrone Morris) Slug (Leighton Jones) at Pontypool, they want to win every game they play, but they are very responsive to the players’ needs.”

Che Hope and Morgan Lloyd make their debuts for their respective clubs at the weekend, with Newport traveling to league leaders Llandovery and Pontypool heading to Bridgend.

Flanagan added: “We have made a commitment to Pontypool and Newport for Morgan (Lloyd) and Che (Hope) to play all year round because they have missed a lot of rugby over the last two years, they need to play, they need 25 players.” games, they need to play as a scrum half”

Hope, 20, has first-team experience for the Dragons, having made three appearances off the bench in the URC and Challenge Cup last season, as well as three appearances for Wales Under-20s.

Winger Ollie Andrews will play alongside Hope in the Black and Ambers, having scored three goals in seven appearances this season and nine appearances for Wales Under-20s in the 2021-23 campaign.

Newport will face Llandovery, who have Scarlets academy member Max Page on the bench. The 18-year-old has started three times for the Drivers this season, scoring winners against Neath and Merthyr and making a further four appearances off the bench.

Poolers Lloyd will make his tenth appearance of the season and played an important role in Pontypool’s return to the Premier League last season.

He will be joined by hooker Sam Scare, an under-20 international who has made 18 clearances this season. Prop Dylan Kelleher-Griffiths and full-back Ewan Rosser have been called up to the Dragons squad for their tour of South Africa after playing for the club.

Swansea trio in action

Swansea RFC could use three Ospreys academy products ahead of their trip to Ebbw Vale.

Hooker Lewis Lloyd has played for Toby Booth’s side in three URC matches this season and will start for the Whites alongside young Welsh international Rhodri Lewis, making his seventh appearance this season.

On the bench, Wales under-20 player Ellis Fackrell makes his first Welsh Premier League appearance this season after returning from injury after a handful of games last year.

The Cardiff duo will start against the Wizards

Cardiff RFC will look to build on their victory over the Whites when they host Aberavon at the Arms Park.

With number 8 Mackenzie Martin called up to the professionals to play in URC’s clash against the Stormers on Friday night, there are still two players involved. Arvel Robson, who was a fly-half, took part in URC’s defeat to the Bulls and played in Cardiff RFC’s victory at St Helens last weekend.

The former Dragons player made 24 appearances for the Gwent side during his four seasons at the club before joining Cardiff Rugby before the start of the current season.

Wing Lucas De La Rua is another promising player at Cardiff. He will start well this weekend, his third Premier League start.

De La Rua has made two appearances for URC this season, coming off the bench against Benetton and the Dragons, and was capped seven times for the Wales youth team last season, including at the World Youth Championship in South Africa last summer.