I’m banking on these derbies being Christmas Crackers
There can be no bigger contrast in your life as a rugby player than over the Christmas period. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are spent in the bossom of your family, surrounded by love and presents. Then comes the complete and utter mayhem of Boxing Day and a Welsh derby match.
It’s magical, an extra day of celebration if you come out on top. If not, it can be utterly miserable. The tenderness and conviviality of Christmas Day is swapped within a couple of hours for the biggest hits of the season on the field, banter and abuse from the terraces and that feeling that you wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in the world.
We’ve got three weekends of Welsh derby matches to look forward to as 2020 merges into 2021 and they will be a proving ground for young hopefuls, a test for the incumbent Welsh internationals and a chance for the older, more established players to show they are still a cut above the rest.
Individual and team bragging rights are up for grabs and it will be those players who can take the inspiration from the occasions, yet still stay focussed and clam, that will succeed. For the fans, still unfortunately stuck on their sofas, it will be a chance to raise the roof at home and then walking tall if their team wins.
I used to love going down to Stradey Park with either Neath or the Ospreys over the festive period and draw strength from the atmosphere. I used to get singled out for special attention from the crowd who would always want to see Wayne Proctor, Mark Jones, Leigh Halfpenny or Liam Williams get one over on me.
Part of my defensive mechanism was always to wear a smile. It was hard sometimes, especially when some of those calling you from pillar to post were neighbours and friends from the Amman Valley. They truly are tribal contests in which you either sink or swim.
We can all do with a bit of Christmas cheer given the constraints of Covid-19 and the miserable weather. I’m hoping the four regions can provide that and give us all a bit of a lift moving into 2021.
The players have been in a privileged position being able to play the game that we all love while so many have been restricted to, and frustrated by, merely throwing around a ball in the back garden. I hope they go out there and deliver three weeks of totally committed and exhilarating rugby.
There are going to be some big headto-head battles, starting with Sam Davies versus Jarrod Evans at outsidehalf in the Boxing Day bash between the Dragons and Blues, and Justin Tipuric versus Josh Macleod at openside when Ospreys host the Scarlets.
And with Welsh stalwarts Alun Wyn Jones and Ken Owens fighting lengthy fitness battles ahead of the opening round of Six Nations matches, the three rounds of matches will be a showcase of those players who feel
“It may be the season to be jolly but goodwill to all men? Not a bit of it over the next three weeks”
they have what it takes to step into some very big shoes.
This weekend’s west Wales derby will pit Welsh hooking rivals Sam Parry and Ryan Elias against each other. The young locks just starting to emerge – Morgan Jones, Jac Price and Josh Helps at the Scarlets, Ben Carter at the Dragons, Rhys Davies at the Ospreys and the resurgent Seb Davies at the Blues – could all press their claims for future honours.
That will be the case for so many young players. Jim Botham’s emergence on the international stage during the Autumn Nations Cup was one of the brighter spots of that tournament from Wales head coach Wayne Pivac’s perspective, but he is going to find his individual battles with the Dragons openside trio, Ben Fry, Taine Basham or Harri Keddie, or the Scarlets Macleod as tough as any of his three caps.
The fact all four teams are so close in the two PRO14 Conferences adds extra spice to the matches, with Round 3 on January 9 being crucial as it when the teams from the same side of the draw go head-to-head.
The Ospreys are currently level on points with the Dragons in Conference A, although the Dragons have a game in hand, so their meeting at Rodney Parade will be vital in deciding who eventually comes out on top at the end of the season.
It is the same in Conference B, where the Scarlets are only two points clear of the Blues with a game in hand. That could easily clawed back by the Blues, especially if they get Josh Navidi, below, back in action to form their latest international back row trio with Shane Lewis-Hughes and Botham.
It may be the season to be jolly, but goodwill to all men? Not a bit of it over the next three weeks. Sit back and enjoy three weeks of thrills and spills that really matter. The stakes are higher than at any other time in the season and only the strong with survive. Pivac will be watching!