Judgement Day is back and that means one of the biggest days out in Welsh sport is returning to Principality Stadium today.
The cream of Welsh rugby talent will be battling it out for local bragging rights in the final round of the BKT United Rugby Championship.
Dragons face Scarlets and the Ospreys tackle Cardiff Rugby. With the destination of the Welsh Shield, awarded to the highest placed Welsh region in the URC table, still to be decided between current holders the Ospreys and Cardiff, there is more that pride to be played for. Given the Welsh Shield winners will head into the Heineken Champions Cup next season, it is a huge prize on offer.
The first edition of Judgement Day came in 2013 when 36,174 fans turned up at the home of Welsh rugby to see the Scarlets beat the Dragons 28-20 and the then Cardiff Blues go down 23-16 to the Ospreys. Among the survivors from that first clash of the Welsh clans are a number of the players still included in Warren Gatland’s Wales Squad – Leigh Halfpenny (then Cardiff Blues and now Scarlets), Ken Owens (Scarlets), Alun Wyn Jones and Justin Tipuric both Ospreys), George North (then Scarlets and Now Ospreys), Taulupe Faletau (then Dragons and now Cardiff), Rhys Patchell (then Cardiff and now Scarlets), Rhys Webb and Owen Williams (then Scarlets and now Ospreys).
There are 12 regional Welsh derbies during each season and each team has won at least one of their matches this season. The final round of games at Principality Stadium will determine which is the pick of the bunch.
THE URC WELSH DERBIES 2022-23
- 17 September: Scarlets 23 – 23 Ospreys
- 8 October: Scarlets 10 – 16 Cardiff Rugby
- 15 October: Cardiff Rugby 31 – 14 Dragons
- 23 October: Dragons 32 – 25 Ospreys
- 26 December: Dragons 24 – 29 Cardiff Rugby; Ospreys 34 – 14 Scarlets
- 1 January: Cardiff Rugby 19 – 22 Ospreys; Scarlets 33 – 17 Dragons
- 7 January: Cardiff Rugby 22 – 28 Scarlets
- 25 March: Ospreys 37 – 18 Dragons
New Dragons head coach Dai Flanagan has tasted success previously on Judgement Day as a part of the Scarlets coaching team.
Now he wants his Dragons side to end the season on a high with back-to-back wins at Principality Stadium for the Gwent side after they posted their first win in seven attempts in 2019 with a stunning 34-32 win over the Scarlets.
“It’s great news that Judgement Day is returning to the capital. It’s a special day out for rugby fans across Wales and gives the regular season a fantastic final round for us all to look forward to,” said Flanagan.
“The opportunity to play at Principality Stadium is a special occasion for any rugby player and we are looking forward to facing Scarlets and giving our fans a memorable day of rugby to enjoy in Cardiff.”
JUDGEMENT DAY RESULTS
2013: Newport Gwent Dragons 20-28 Scarlets; Cardiff Blues 16-23 Ospreys
2014: Cardiff Blues 17-13 Scarlets; Newport Gwent Dragons 10-20 Ospreys
2015: Cardiff Blues 23-31 Ospreys; Newport Gwent Dragons 10-29 Scarlets
2016: Cardiff Blues 27-40 Ospreys; Newport Gwent Dragons 20-34 Scarlets
2017: Cardiff Blues 35-17 Ospreys; Newport Gwent Dragons 16-21 Scarlets
2018: Dragons 8-33 Scarlets; Cardiff Blues 23-26 Ospreys
2019: Dragons 34-32 Scarlets; Cardiff Blues 23-26 Ospreys
JUDGEMENT DAY – DID YOU KNOW . . .
- Then Scarlets wing George North scored the first try on Judgement Day in the win over the Dragons. He scored two tries in the match.
- There were 87 points and eight tries scored across the two games on Judgement Day 1 in 2013,
- There have been 635 points and 72 tries scored in the seven events to date at an average of 45 points and 5 tries per game
- Current Wales wing Alex Cuthbert holds the record for the fastest try on Judgement Day, scoring for Cardiff Blues after 4 minutes of their 17-13 win over the Scarlets in 2014
- Out of the 644 players selected for the 14 games only 25 players have failed to play on the day.
- There has been only one straight red card issued, to Cardiff Blues forward Robin Copeland in 2014 against the Scarlets. Liam Williams was also sent-off in the same game for two yellow cards.
- Taulupe Faletau picked up the first yellow card on Judgement Day, 18 minutes into the first fixture between Dragons and Scarlets.
- 25 players have played for more than one region on Judgement Day.
- Gareth Anscombe has scored the most points on Judgement Day - 79 for the Blues – while Jonathan Davies has scored the most tries with three for the Scarlets.
