Aaron Wainwright will feel very much at home at Cardiff City Stadium on Judgement Day - having been part of the Cardiff City academy set up for five years.
Football was the Dragons and Wales No 8’s first passion when he was growing up and he was good enough to play with the Bluebirds from U10-U16 level.
While he never made the grade in the round ball grade, some of his experiences from those years training in the Cardiff City academy gave him a good grounding when he eventually enjoyed a growth spurt and opted to take up rugby.
From a budding wannabe Aaron Ramsey or Patrick Vieira, his idol at his favourite club Arsenal, he turned into a player who has played at two World Cups and played a part in the 2019 Grand Slam. Football’s loss was definitely rugby’s gain.
“I was a centre midfielder who went on to become a centre back. I had a few team photos out there at Cardiff City Stadium when I played with Cardiff City from U10-U16,” said Wainwright.
“I was tiny back then and I think that was part of the reasons I got released. Then I had a bit of a growth spurt.
“Before I started growing, I wanted to become a professional footballer. When I got released, I got stuck into my schoolwork and then discovered rugby.
“I came through with players like Regan Pool and Mark Harris, and Rabbi Matondo was a year behind. They’ve all done very well.
“When we were sharing the academy buildings, we were sharing with some older players we’d watch how they trained and carried themselves. It was a real eye-opener on what it takes to be a professional sportsman.”
Wainwright has already been to Cardiff City Stadium once this season to watch the Bluebirds play Leicester City. Now he hopes to steer the Dragons to a double this season over the Scarlets and to repeat their stunning win over the west Wales region at last year’s Judgement Day.
That’s the big incentive for the ‘Men of Gwent’ as they aim to finish their season on another high.
“Last year’s Judgement Day was great, there was a good turn-out and it was the best of Welsh rugby. If there is any day that can inspire the next generation it’s coming along to an event like this,” said Dragons head coach Dai Flanagan.
“There are always bragging rights to be won on derby days. We came out on the wrong end of it against the Ospreys in our last game, so it would be nice to finish on a high against the Scarlets to give us a feel-good factor going into the summer.
“We had our best performance of the season against the Scarlets last year and that put a spring in everyone’s step. That gave us momentum, which was spoilt a bit by the length of the pre-season due to the World Cup.
“It is just a shorter turn around this summer, so we want a big finish to give us a boost.”
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