Judgement Day at Principality Stadium doesn’t disappoint as Dragons stun Scarlets on breathtaking day
The annual marketing exercise brought all four Welsh regions together on Saturday and it was every bit as nuts we’ve come to expect
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Judgement Day. Bonkers, beguiling, breathtaking and brash. It’s all there under one Principality Stadium roof.
From the man dressed as a zebra to the hen parties, to the true fans, to the bloke on his own with a set of posts on his head, it’s a day Welsh rugby comes together in a big, brash, cringe-worthy and chaotic celebration of regional rugby.
The annual marketing exercise brought all four Welsh regions together on Saturday and it was every bit as nuts we’ve come to expect. Rugby’s equivalent of a monster truck event stuck two fingers up at rugby’s conservatives and screamed: Love me!!
For the record; Ospreys beat Cardiff Blues to ensure a Champions Cup play-off place afforded to the fourth placed teams in each conference of sport's most impossibly confusing league, also known as the Pro14.
Earlier, in front of fans imploring us to “Stand up for the men of Gwent”, Dragons won their first game away from Rodney Parade since 2015 and thought they’d killed off Scarlets play-off hopes in the process.
The victory meant Dragons finished their season with five wins from 21 games, but they still partied like it was 1999 after Jason Tovey converted Matthew Screech’s last-minute try to edge a nine-try thriller. The post-match carnival atmosphere at the final whistle was all about pooping on Scarlets party.
“Who cares if we’re crap, we’ve just beaten Scarlets,” roared the man wearing a set of rugby posts on his head.
As it turned out, Edinburgh, Scarlets principle rivals for the Conference B European play-off spot, were comprehensively outplayed by Glasgow in the late 7.35pm kick off which provided the Scottish region with a huge advantage they completely failed to take.
Ultimately their 34-10 loss meant Scarlets (who earned two bonus points against Dragons) crawled into the play off and made Dragons win even more meaningless than it had been a few hours earlier.
Whatever. After Dragons punch-drunk players left the field there was a hiatus in the Judgement Day entertainment, before Ospreys and Blues entered the fray in front of more than 51,000 increasingly alcohol-soaked fans.
The senior steward in the lower stand spoke to his colleagues on the radio in the middle stand to identify who had poured booze on the heads of the angry Blues fans below and another bloke behind screamed abuse at the Blues fans for daring to stand up. He wanted to watch the game. He didn’t care if they were piss wet through.
The Blues fans in the bottom tier cheered and waved when their assailant in the middle tier was identified and removed from the ground.
All the while, the zebra got more pints and the bloke on his own with the rugby posts on his head took selfies to post to his friends on Facebook.
The main talking point Blues played Ospreys was how Wales star Gareth Anscombe would play considering he’ll leave Blues for Ospreys in the summer.
As it turned out, the answer was “pretty bloody well” as Blues full back scored a memorable first-half try, kicked three penalties and two conversions for a personal haul of 18 points. He missed one kick near the end which exposed him to the social media mob but they’ll always find a way.
New Zealand born Anscombe’s heroics alongside Blues New Zealander No8 Nick Williams, whose hopes of re-signing next season have been blocked by the Welsh Rugby Union because he’s a New Zealander, were not enough to prevent Ospreys claiming a memorable win.
Meanwhile Scarlets are delighted at the WRU permitting them to sign New Zealander Sam Lousi from Hurricanes. Confused? Get back to the rugby.
On the pitch, sanity reigned as the posts lit up green whenever a kick went over and flashed red when they didn’t. Another marketing ploy which adds nothing whatsoever to the entertainment or understanding of the game but who cares? This was Judgement Day.
Ospreys’ win, courtesy of Sam Davies’s late penalty, ensured their passage into the play offs where, after Edinburgh were drubbed in Glasgow, they will play Scarlets. As you were then.
As yet more permutations on Saturday night emerged suggesting the Pro14 will get an extra spot in next season’s Champions Cup if Leinster beat Saracens in this year’s final and all eight of this semi-finalists (Champions and Challenge Cup) qualify through their respective leagues, one of the hen party was sick, the zebra fell over and bloke on his own with the rugby posts on his head held his head in his hands.
Judgement Day. You have to love it, don’t you?
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