GARETH Cooper, pictured, is back in Wales after five years at Bath, and he is supporting the new regional system.

Without it, he says, he would not have contemplated returning to Wales after signing up with the Celtic Warriors, the combined Bridgend-Pontypridd side.

"The standard of the Zurich Premiership is slightly higher than it has been in Wales which is why we needed to change," said Cooper whose performance against Australia last month was pro-bably the best of his career.

"I'm glad the change has happened otherwise I wouldn't have come back. "I had one year left on my contract with Bath, but it was resolved and the coaches there were brilliant about it.

"The Australia game was my best for Wales because the whole team did well. It was against the world champions on their home turf and I had a good platform, everyone played well though Australia were probably not quite as strong as they were."

Cooper, whose mentor was former Wales captain Rob Howley, realises he's got stiff competition for the number nine jersey from Dwayne Peel and emerging Michael Phillips, while he doesn't rule out Cardiff's Cwmbran-born Ryan Powell returning to the fray.

"There's great competition there now with three scrum halves going for one spot, and it's unfortunate Ryan got injured or he would be involved, too," said Cooper.

"Mike Phillips is a different type of scrum half, he's a very good player and he has settled into the squad. The competition forces you to train harder."

Cooper and the rest of the squad have settled into the new regime, training having started in earnest this week.

"We had three weeks off and it's been a bit more difficult to settle back in, but you know it's got to be done and I look forward to seeing the benefits," he said.

He believes there is still some way to go to match the really top sides, especially Down Under.

"Their attitude is different to ours, physically they're ahead of us," he said. "But that's where we need to get to, and we need to improve our physical attributes."