Mostyn Richards, High Performance Manager for the WRU commented, "We have been delighted with the first two seasons of Reebok Championship rugby and having spoken to the respective coaches during the summer, it looks as though we could be in for another season of top class age grade rugby. The great thing about last season was that our national age grade sides carried on from where the regional sides left off with Wales U19 winning the Six Nations grand slam and doing well at the IRB U19 World Championships."

A new format for the 2006-2007 season saw rounds of the three age grade competitions staged on a weekly basis with all but the U16 winding up by the end of January to give way to the international season. The U16 final would be staged a month later at the end of February. Victory in the 2005–2006 season finals saw the Ospreys start as favourites in the age grade championships, but the competition promised to be fierce from the Scarlets, who won the inaugural competition, and from the Blues and Dragons who were yet to taste tournament success.

The reigning U16 champions made an impressive start to the season as they secured a first victory over the Dragons at Waterton Cross. Centre Rhys Llewellyn and No.8 Scott Hicks scored tries for the defending champions in the 10-3 win with Joseph Evans only able to reply for the Dragons with a second half penalty. The Blues North also started the season impressively with a bonus point 23-8 victory over the Scarlets at Sardis Road. The tense game was littered with four yellow cards, plus a red card for the Blues North wing Will Rose. Prior to his sending off Rose notched a try for his side with other efforts coming from Sean Nicholas, Garrick Legge and Lloyd Peart. The Scarlets attained a first-half try from Rhydian Morris and a penalty from Scott Williams and although the scores were pinned to 8-8 at the interval, the Blues powered ahead to secure the victory in the second half.

The second round of the U16 championship kicked off three weeks later with the Ospreys travelling to Stradey Park looking for their second successive win of the championship. Yet it was the champions from the inaugural championship, the Scarlets, who were the better team on the night and came away with the 18-10 victory. Josh Smart and Rhys Gingell crossed for the home side with outside half Jonathan Thomas adding two penalties and a conversion. The Ospreys responded with a try from No.8 Scott Hicks, but a conversion and a penalty were not enough to prevent the Scarlets from a gaining the spoils.

The sister regional sides met in the other round two fixture with the Blues North defeating the South 24-8 to promote them to the top of the youngest age grade pool table. The encounter at Leckwith Stadium started with the South leading, courtesy of a try from Nathan Hoosan and an additional penalty. The North dominated the second half and prevented the South from furthering their points tally. Garrick Legge, Richard Powell, Will Rose and fullback Sean Nicholas secured the four ties and resulting bonus point as Nicholas added two conversions in addition to his try to round off the superb victory.

The Blues North, who had underachieved in the previous season, searched for three wins from three as they took on the Ospreys at Merthyr RFC. They continued their dominance in the championship but had to come back from a half-time deficit to clinch the narrow win. The Ospreys held a 7-3 advantage at the break after a try from Georgie Rees, converted by outside half Christian Phillips. The Blues North enjoyed the upper hand in the second half, gaining a try from wing Dafydd Hicks to secure the slender 8-7 success.

In the other game, the Dragons entertained the Blues South at Cross Keys with both sides in search of a first win of the campaign. It was the Dragons who registered their first victory, beating the Blues South 10-0 at Pandy Park thanks to a try from No.8 and Captain Craig Attwell and a conversion and penalty from fullback Joseph Evans. All of the points of the game had been scored in the first half but the Dragons withstood some heavy South pressure to secure the victory.

Round four of the championship saw the Ospreys defeat the Blues South 28-16 at the Landarcy Academy in their second victory of the season. Deeke Morse, Chad Punchard and Guy Jones gained first-half tries to ease the Ospreys into 15-6 interval lead. On the resumption of the game further tries from scrum half Ryan Jones and replacement prop Luke Myatt guaranteed the win. Lauren Quick slotted over three penalties and a conversion for the South as Captain Joe Poole scored his side’s sole try of the match. This defeat made it three loses from three in a disappointing start to the season for the Blues side. At the clash in Narberth the Scarlets were 24-19 winners against the Dragons. Craig Attwell bagged a try for the visitors with Joseph Evans adding a conversion and four penalties. However, home advantage and four tries with a bonus point saw the Scarlets home on a night of outstanding rugby. Josh Smart and Scott Williams obtained tries in the first half for the Scarlets and further five pointers from Edward Siggery and Stefan Phillips saw them home.

Three weeks later the Blues North took on the Dragons at Cross Keys, aiming for a fourth consecutive victory in the U16 championship. Attaining their goal at Pandy Park, the North gained a 21-13 victory that edged them nearer to a final spot in the U16 tournament. A penalty try and Ian Smerdon effort edged the Blues North 14-10 ahead at half-time as Rhys Howells’s try, and Joseph Evans’s boot, kept the Dragons in contention. Richard Powell added a third Blues try in the second half to obtain the victory and the advantage at the top of the group. (The Blues South v Scarlets match was postponed due to the foul weather but when replayed at a later date resulted in the team sharing the spoils with a 14-14 draw).

The Blues North searched for a fifth successive win in their tie with the Scarlets at Llandovery in the sixth round of matches. They continued their one hundred percent success rate with a 13-6 defeat of the Scarlets, having led narrowly 7-6 at the interval. James Stevenson secured the Scarlets’ points but the visitors went without reply in the second half as replacement outside half Ian Smerdon notched a brace of penalties to add to the first half try by James Wood and conversion courtesy of Josh James. The victory edged the Blues North an inch closer to the U16 Reebok Regional final set to be staged on February 28th.

The Dragons were set to face the Ospreys at Cross Keys looking to build on their only success of the season following the sole win over the Blues South two months previously. The match was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch yet when replayed, the Ospreys ran out resounding winners 33-0.

As the season progressed towards an exciting conclusion the Blues North kept up their unbeaten record to gain a place in the U16 final. A 17-8 victory over the Ospreys in the New Year, courtesy of try from an Aaron Atkins and a try, conversions and penalty from the impressive Dean Gunter, gained the North’s triumph. Following this defeat the Ospreys had to gain successes from their remaining two fixtures to possibly join the Blues North in the final fixture.

The Scarlets’ penultimate match saw them facing a must-win clash with the Dragons to continue their bid to reach the final. The penultimate round also saw the Ospreys travel to Treforest to play the Blues South knowing that a victory would almost guarantee a final berth opposite the North as they could increase their point margin over the Scarlets.  The Ospreys were defeated 11-10 by a valiant Blues South side yet the result at Pandy Park, the 17-17 draw between the Scarlets and Dragons, ensured that the Ospreys could not be caught by the other teams and therefore progressed into the U16 Reebok Regional Championship final.

The U16 final was once postponed due to the inclement weather but eventually took place on March 9th at the Cardiff Arms Park. Having struggled to make any impression in the opening two seasons of regional rugby, Blues North U16 had seriously impressed during the 2006–2007 season with an unbeaten record. The North had beaten their finalist opponents on both occasions during the season, 8-7 at the Arms Park and 17-8 at Llandarcy, and sought to make it nine successive victories in the championship final. Blues High Performance Manager Gafyn Cooper stated, “It has been a wonderful season for the boys and if there was a trophy at the end of today, it would be fully justified. Dale McIntosh and his coaching team have done a wonderful job and they too deserve to finish with yet another victory.”

Yet against the run of form, the Ospreys U16 retained their championship crown as they secured the impressive 22-18 victory in the highly anticipated final. The Ospreys made it third time lucky after their two defeats at the hands of the North in the season with three tries and a further seven points from the boot of Chris Banfield. Chad Punchard and Deeke Morse crossed for first-half tries as the Ospreys took control of the game and with Banfield adding a penalty and conversion, the underdogs led 15-10 at the interval. Ian Smerdon gained a try, conversion and penalty for the Blues, but in the second half they were unable to reduce the gap enough with back row Garrick Legge impeding his club’s efforts after receiving a yellow card.

Liam Powell scored a third try for the Ospreys, who were outstanding at the breakdown, with Banfield adding the conversion. Smerdon kicked a second penalty whilst Tom Rees added a try for the Blues but it was too little too late as the Ospreys won the title for a second successive year.

Gafyn Cooper commented on his side’s opponents, “They were lethal at the breakdown and they turned over plenty of our ball and used it well. They were deserved winners.” Opposite number Dai Arthur, High Performance Manager for the Ospreys, said, “We are chuffed to have won it again, especially after losing twice to them during the pool games. It was another excellent game between two very good sides.”

With the Ospreys having retained two of their championship titles and the Blues enjoying a much improved season, culminating in the clinching of the U20 trophy, the 2007–2008 Reebok Regional Championships promised to create exciting battles in all three age grades. The Scarlets would be looking to return to form and regain their winning streaks, having won all three age grade titles in the inaugural competition, whilst the Dragons would hope to redress the balance of being the only region not to have gained Reebok Championship silverware in the history of the competition.