 The Konica Minolta Cup is an integral part of the Welsh rugby calendar, furthermore, it’s an occasion, that the Welsh Rugby Union's Elite Performance department believe is vital for the development of the game in Wales. The contest for a place in Welsh rugby’s annual end of season showpiece, these days called the Konica Minolta Cup Final, is as intense as ever. Last season, both Cardiff and Llandovery had to battle long and hard against some of the traditional minnows as well as the household names of Welsh rugby, with Llandovery running out eventual winners in the head-to-head contest for one of the top prizes in the community / semi-professional game. Llandovery's feat was exceptional and they added their name to a short and exclusive list of clubs lucky enough to have graced the final and won it.
It is the community / semi-professional game, where the WRU intends to keep its annual Challenge Cup final; at the top of the playing agenda for non-professional players in Wales. The Principality Premiership is still in its infancy, although the signs are there season-on-season that it is beginning to provide the right competitive structure in which younger players can prove their worth. That has to be the ultimate aim of both the cup and league programmes just below the regional system.
The WRU have been working hard to create the right structures through which players graduate to take them into the professional arena, and that player pathway is starting to work through the age group levels. The Konica Minolta Cup and Principality Premiership provide the first big landing stages for the budding professionals of Welsh rugby.
 Semi-professional rugby in Wales has to be all about development, and as time goes on, it is expected that more and more of the talented players in their early twenties will find their feet at this level thus producing a much more intensely competitive environment. With the improvement in players, the improved playing environment has also allowed a new breed of young coach to emerge.
Three seasons ago, Scott Quinnell and Neil Boobyer teamed up at Stradey Park to nurture the next generation of Scarlets with Llanelli, while Dale McIntosh and Paul John backed up Simon King at Pontypridd. Two seasons ago Rowland Phillips took Neath to the final only to fall at the final hurdle having already bagged the Principality Premiership and last season Justin Burnell led Cardiff to the Millennium Stadium.
Three of those four coaches have stepped up to the Wales National set up with Burnell and King at age grade level and Phillips making the transition from age grade rugby to the senior squad set up. Llandovery pipped Cardiff to the trophy at the death at the Millennium Stadium last April demonstrating the strong coaching capabilities across the Principality Premiership spectrum.
Over the past few seasons former Welsh internationals Mike Rayer and Tony Clement have been involved with Cardiff and Swansea, Kevin Hopkins and Mark Jones have been at the helm at Aberavon, David Rees and Sven Cronk have guided Newport’s fortunes, with Nicky Lloyd, Rob Beale, Byron Hayward, Chay Billen, Pat Horgan, John Devereaux and Alan Bateman all plying their ex-international and club experience into the top flight of Welsh domestic rugby.
The game is changing and the Welsh Rugby Union is looking to give the right lead to the clubs to make the most of those changes, for too long the game has been allowed to stagnate at club level. With the right funding for the right competitions, the right opportunities can be provided for aspirational players to reach their goals.
 The Wales Grand Slam team of 2005 showed exactly what can be achieved when the right system is put in place and the players are given the proper direction; this was emulated at U19 level with the age grade side producing a 'Grand Slam' two seasons ago and finishing third in the IRB U19 World Championship last season.
The Principality Premiership and the Konica Minolta Cup are all about finding the next wave of international players to fill the age grade sides and eventually the senior Wales team. The Principality Premiership acts as the mainstay for both the clubs and the players, the Konica Minolta Cup is there to add a dash of spice providing for upsets and close fought skirmishes in contrast to the constancy of the Premiership. The Konica Minolta Cup provides hope and dreams for everyone in the game, that is its beauty and why it is still so highly valued by the WRU.
The Final, when it comes round once a season, gives everyone present at the Millennium Stadium the chance to assess the quality that exists just below the regional set up, with players on view that will aspire to be seen at higher levels in the future. Remember their names and remember where you saw them first.
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