Ospreys and Dragons, the two sides to have struggled the most so far this season, emerged from the New Year’s Day derbies with victories.

Welsh rugby fans were treated to some fantastic performances across the Christmas and New Year’s period, with the overall tally reading two wins for Ospreys, a win apiece for Dragons and Cardiff, with only Scarlets going winless.

Ospreys sparkle at Brewery Field

With cold and wet weather marking this same fixture out in 2023 as a bit of an old fashioned affair – pockmarked by moments of magic like Morgan Morse’s outstanding score – the Brewery Field pitch held up well to produce a match of pure entertainment for the Ospreys faithful.

After a gloomy week that culminated in being handily beaten by Munster, many an Ospreys fan was fairly pessimistic going into a pair of derbies with Scarlets and Cardiff.

They need not have worried.

While four of the five tries scored on the day were from backs – a sparkling brace from in-form man Kieran Hardy, plus a try each for wings Keelan Giles and Iestyn Hopkins – it was the Ospreys pack that dominated.

Cardiff were hampered by ill-discipline as they were overpowered by the Ospreys forwards and the visitors will be disappointed with a festive derby return of one win in three games.

Ospreys had started the Christmas period rock bottom in the league, but have risen eight places after successive derby wins.

“The Ospreys over many years have been lauded, and rightly so, for their power up front, their smarts, the character of the players as well as the physicality,” said head coach Mark Jones.

“We’ve hopefully still got a nice balance to our game and we’re showing that we can play the game a couple of different ways now.”

Benefitting from that forward platform was Wales scrum-half Hardy, who scored two tries having been the only specialist Ospreys’ number nine fit to face Cardiff.

“I think he’s done an exceptional job,” said Jones. “He showed good energy and control and his execution around all aspects of his game was excellent.”

With a maximum of 10 points picked up in the derbies, Ospreys have put themselves back into the play-off mix despite being bottom on Christmas Day. What a turnaround.

Dragons continue to rise

There has been a strange feeling at Rodney Parade in recent weeks as the Dragons fans watched their team enter the final ten or so minutes of matches: one of calm and comfort, knowing that the result is in tact.

The Dragons are now on a three-match winning run at home, beating Lyon in that comeback victory in the Challenge Cup, before two very comfortable victories over Connacht and Scarlets in recent weeks.

A bonus point victory over a sorry Scarlets side saw the Newport side climb to 10th in the United Rugby Championship (URC), with the club ruing a close defeat at the Cardiff Arms Park as the only blot on the winter copy book so far.

Scarlets’ Max Douglas was shown a red card just after a tight first half, and the 20 minutes of man-down rugby was costly for the West Walian side.

7-5 turned into 21-5, with Dragons clinching their bonus in the 75th minute through replacement hooker George Roberts.

“Our leaders are putting bits and pieces together and demanding things from each other,” said Tiatia, whose side temporarily went 10th in the URC with victory.

“It hasn’t happened by accident, they have been working hard around doing the basics well and our mantra is ‘how do we improve every day?’

“There are always areas to improve and I wouldn’t get too carried away. Travelling away is an area of growth for us and we need to have the same mentality as at home.”

It is also worth noting that Dragons were without a raft of players, including Wales internationals Rio Dyer, Rhodri Jones, Elliot Dee, Brodie Coghlan, Chris Coleman and Dillon Lewis.

For Scarlets, their 23-0 victory over Glasgow looks now to have been a false dawn, as pressure piles on Dwayne Peel.

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