United Rugby Championship: Welsh derby double to herald first day of 2024

Welsh rugby’s most turbulent year ends with the nation’s four professional teams hoping for a more successful 2024.

The immediate future will provide some optimism with young players emerging, but also present more challenges with the four Welsh teams still in the bottom half of the United Rugby Championship (URC) table.

They are all battling to hold onto their top players and their already-squeezed budgets being reduced initially from £5.2m to £4.5m for the 2024-25 season.

Weather permitting the first day of the new year will give the four sides a chance to show what they can do, with Ospreys hosting Cardiff in Bridgend as both teams aim to prove they are Wales’ top side, while Dragons and Scarlets face a URC basement battle in Newport.

Who are Wales’ top dogs?

Fresh from completing the double against Scarlets on Boxing Day, Ospreys are the highest ranked Welsh side in the league in ninth, while a rejuvenated Cardiff are 11th in the 16-team competition.

Ospreys have switched their home game against Cardiff to the Brewery Field in Bridgend because it clashes with football team Swansea City’s Championship match at the Swansea.com Stadium.

“It’s an exciting thing, getting out on the road and spreading the love,” said Ospreys head coach Toby Booth.

“Cardiff are playing well. They’ve got a lot of confidence, are scoring a lot of tries and we’re going to need to be sharp, especially defensively because they pose an attacking threat.

“We will back ourselves. We understand how important it is and matching the emotion of last week is important.

“We had emotion last week but also control, especially in the second half. And in Welsh derbies, that’s difficult.”

It will be different surroundings with a heavier pitch surface and a smaller ground creating a contrasting atmosphere.

It has been confirmed as a capacity crowd edging towards 8,000. This is compared to more than 37,000 watching the Glasgow and Edinburgh derby at Murrayfield on 30 December and almost 77,000 attending the Harlequins and Gloucester match at Twickenham on the same day.

“Players always love playing in places that are full, it always brings a nice atmosphere,” said Booth.

“Maybe it’s the old traditionalist in me, but we’re playing on grass which doesn’t happen as often as it used to.

“But no one’s been playing on it, so we’re happy it’s going to be a decent surface depending on what the weather’s like from now until then.

“We’ve had some positive experiences there, having played Northampton in a pre-season friendly which was a good night out.

“So there’s positive memories from a good atmosphere, so we need to recreate that.”

Cardiff will also have to adapt after playing on a lightning fast Arms Park surface that has yielded 147 points and 23 tries in the last two games against Bath and Dragons.

“It will be a very different game,” said Cardiff head coach Matt Sherratt.

“We were pleased with the performance and result against the Dragons, it’s not often you race into that kind of first-half lead.

“You have to enjoy those moments but we’re also aware things clicked for us on the day, while the Dragons endured the complete opposite.

“The Ospreys will present a different challenge. They are coming off a good win against Scarlets and will be confident and we have to meet that head on.”

Basement battle

At Rodney Parade it will be a basement battle between bottom side Dragons against Scarlets who lie just two places above them in the table.

Both teams have lost eight out of 10 games this season, with the three league wins between them coming in Welsh derbies.

Scarlets’ only victories came with a league double against Cardiff and they have shipped 50 points on three occasions, suffered a double defeat against Ospreys and been humbled at home by Georgian side Black Lion in Europe’s Challenge Cup.

Dragons have enjoyed just one league win at home to Ospreys and a Challenge Cup victory against Oyonnax. The Gwent region conceded 69 points against Sharks in South Africa and suffered that record defeat against Cardiff on Boxing Day.

Both sides have young Welshmen who are in their first head coach roles, with Dragons boss Dai Flanagan and Scarlets counterpart Dwayne Peel under pressure.

Peel is in his third season in charge and Flanagan in his second at Dragons after joining from Scarlets where he worked with Peel.

“I enjoyed my time with him,” said Flanagan.

“He is an hilarious guy when you get to know him, a good man with a good family.

“He is having the same problems as me because he is working in arguably the toughest time to work in Welsh rugby.

“The region (Scarlets) should back Dwayne 100% because if you look at his rugby pedigree, it’s second to none. I learned a lot off him in one year and I am sure people there now are doing the same.

“If you look at the injury list they have had, it’s been arguably worse than any other region and also the quality of players he has lost.

“It’s professional sport, but Dwayne is a top human and you want him to succeed. Just maybe not in this game.”

A Scarlets’ supporters group has expressed concern towards the hierarchy about how the organisation is being run and released a letter they had sent to the board.

This was before Scarlets slipped to double defeat against Ospreys on Boxing Day.

“It’s important we move on from last week, make sure we prepare well and go to Rodney Parade with a lot of enthusiasm and energy,” said Peel.

“We have to take what was good from the Ospreys game, build and iron a few things out.

“Winning is a product of good performance and accuracy. We have to get performance right because we are inaccurate at the moment.”