By David Parsons
There will be plenty of ‘Festive Fun’ on offer over the Christmas and New Year period with four Welsh derbies on offer in the BKT United Rugby Championship.
Among the scores to be settled between Welsh rugby’s nearest and dearest will be the quest by the Dragons to finally pick up a win against Cardiff Rugby. When the two teams met at Rodney Parade earlier this season, the Blue & Blacks won 16-9.
That made it a whopping 17 successive wins over their biggest rivals and on Boxing Day (Tuesday, 26 December) they will be looking to extend their run to 18. It promises to be another great occasion at the Arms Park, with some great clashes in store.
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Mason Grady v Rio Dyer on the wing will be worth the admission price alone, while the back row battle between this summer’s Wales U20 stars Mackenzie Martin and Lucas de la Rua for Cardiff, and Ryan Woodman, for Newport, will give Warren Gatland another glimpse of what he has got to work with in the future.
There could also be a repeat of the World Cup quarter-final clash between Newport’s Argentine scrum half Gonzalo Bertranou and Tomas Williams. The game kicks off at 3.00pm and will be followed by the battle to find the ‘best of the west’ when Scarlets host Ospreys at Parc Y Scarlets at 5.15pm.
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“We enjoyed phenomenal support for the Wales team in France, both at the games and back home, and I’d like to encourage all those wonderful fans to come out and support the regions over the Christmas derbies. It’s a great chance to get behind the young superstars of the future who are coming through,” said Wales head coach, Warren Gatland.
“I know their results haven’t always been what we want this season, but your support for those players and the teams means a lot. The festive fixtures are a chance for the regional sides to continue the development of their youngsters and to help them improve.
“It’s going to take a bit of time, but I think we’re going to see some light at the end of the tunnel in terms of Wales and regional rugby becoming stronger. The support the teams and players receive from the fans will play an important part.”
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Dragons head coach Dai Flanagan loves games at this time of year and has already told his players “we owe Cardiff a good performance.” His side has already won one derby this season, beating Ospreys 20-5 at Rodney Parade, and are looking forward to welcoming Scarlets on New Year’s Day (5.15pm)
“We were disappointed with our home performance against Cardiff and we need to get that hoodoo off our back. It’s a big game for us,” said Flanagan.
“We need to make sure that collectively we don’t let each other down going into what is a big derby period for us.”
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