Muderack says the recruitment of Leigh Jones as performance director along with recruitment aimed at bolstering their pack is cause for his optimism at Scarlets.

“We’ve made some tweaks to the coaching team. Leigh Jones has come in to provide a bit of support to the overall coaching group with a lot of heritage and a lot of passion, when we’ve also made quite a bit of shrewd recruitment over the past 12 months,” said Muderack.

“We’ve really bolstered our pack up front and then we’ve got some really good, exciting youngsters coming through, which then get a bit of dynamism all over the park for us.

“We also said goodbye to a generation of talent, but now it’s the opportunity for this group to make their own history and to put their own stamp on this period of time for the club.”

Wales’ World Cup tight-head prop Henry Thomas has joined from Castres, while Scotland prop Alec Hepburn arrived from Exeter Chiefs.

South African hooker Marnus van der Merwe, who was included in Rassie Erasmus’ initial 43-man Springboks squad for the 2024 Rugby Championship, joined from Cheetahs, while fellow South African Jarrod Taylor arrived from Stormers in February.

Australian lock Max Douglas has also joined the squad from Japanese side Yokohama Canon Eagles.

Scarlets have signed two Welsh-qualified backs, full-back Ellis Mee from Nottingham and utility back Blair Murray from New Zealand side Canterbury.

The west Wales region have also retained the services of Johnny Williams, Alex Craig, Sam Lousi, Tom Rogers, Harri O’Connor, Ben Williams, Dan Davis and Vaea Fifita.