Derby dates in calendar

CARDIFF Blues will play Scarlets and Ospreys take on Dragons when rugby returns in Wales after a five-month break.

The Guinness PRO14 is set to resume on the weekend of August 22 with the first of two rounds of derbies in each of the five competing countries.

In Wales, the opening fixtures will be the ones that were originally due to make up Judgement Day VIII in April, prior to the league being suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.

But the games won’t be played at the Principality Stadium, as was originally planned with Judgement Day, because the stadium is unavailable having been converted into a field hospital.

The matches will be played instead behind closed doors at Parc y Scarlets and the Liberty Stadium respectively.

Then, on the weekend of August 29, Cardiff Blues will take on Ospreys, while Dragons host Scarlets.

It’s yet to be confirmed where Cardiff Blues will play their “home” games, with the Arms Park also out of commission as part of the Dragon’s Heart hospital facility.

The alternative venue has to be Covid-approved and facilities need to be of pro standard, in terms of factors like electronic advertising and accommodating TV.

And it appears that Rodney Parade in Newport is the likeliest option for the Blues. In theory, that raises the prospect of a double-header at the ground on August 29, with the Dragons entertaining the Scarlets that weekend.

But I understand that is unlikely as it would mean twice the number of people on site, which wouldn’t tie in with Covid measures. So, the probable outcome would be games on separate days at the venue over the weekend, again behind closed doors.

There shouldn’t be any issue over ground availability at Rodney Parade – or the Liberty Stadium for that matter – with the new football season not set to begin until mid-September.

In Ireland, PRO14 champions Leinster are set to take on Munster on the opening weekend, with Connacht welcoming Ulster.

Then in Scotland, the plan is have back-to-back Edinburgh v Glasgow games at Murrayfield on successive weekends, with derbies also pencilled in for Italy and South Africa.

Clearly, for the games to go ahead as planned it will require approval from the authorities in each country, but this is the schedule the competition organisers are working towards.

The derby matches won’t count towards European qualification as that has already been decided based on Conference positions after Round 13.

However, they will count towards the final league placings which will decide who goes into the play-offs.

The top two from each conference will go through to the semi-finals on the weekend of September 5, with the final on Saturday, September 12, at a venue to be arranged.

There is no news yet on which of the Welsh derbies will be shown free-to-air on S4C, with Premier Sports broadcasting all PRO14 games.

GUINNESS PRO14 FIXTURES Weekend of August 22: Scarlets v Cardiff Blues, Ospreys v Dragons, Leinster v Munster, Connacht v Ulster, Edinburgh v Glasgow; Italian & South African derbies.

Weekend of August 29: Cardiff Blues v Ospreys, Dragons v Scarlets, Leinster v Ulster, Munster v Connacht, Edinburgh v Glasgow; Italian & South African derbies.

Weekend of September 5: Semifinals.

Saturday, September 12: Final.