Both beaten the All Blacks but both beaten by the Schedule

So, our second Welsh derby is nearly upon us, an East v West meeting, a rugby challenge that should ensure a ripple or two of excitement. In theory vast hordes from the west will once again pile into the Arms Park with their songs about their players, that charming little ditty about a small saucepan and Little Johnny & some may even mention that they once too beat the All Blacks, although this claim is obviously outrageous otherwise we would all know about it. A meeting of linguistic challenges too, they cannot make Pasty sound shorter than a week whilst we cannot make Park sound shorter than fortnight in Barry.

As a west Wales boy growing up I was surrounded by sheep, mountains and world class seascapes and unavoidably rather a lot of excitable Scarlet supporters. This was the 1980’s and whilst 1980 and 1981 were just that too soon to revel in, the first real game of meaning was the 1985 Schweppes Cup Final. In those days of endless summer I recall sitting on the beach listening to David Parry Jones’ educated tones on a battered medium wave radio with whom I thought of at the time as my friends. It was all going so well, I kept quiet as Cardiff seemingly ground their way to a stuttering victory, until Gary Pearce decided to ruin a perfectly adequate day on the west Wales coast. Monday morning PE lesson was hell as every Twm, Dic & Harri pretended to be Pearce and all I could do was mumble curses and feign disinterest. There were other times too when Llanelli got the better of Cardiff and I have to admit, it hurt, almost as much as when Newport and their incarnations manage it. Almost!

Fast forward through the 1990’s & early millennium, past the two best cold served revenge dishes ever, the 1994 Cup Final and the annihilation at Stradey Park in 2001 ... Llanelli 16 Dan Baugh 65(!) ... we arrive at Friday’s game and one that if it is half as good as the New Year’s Day game last season we should all be in for a treat. Of course the real sadness and the elephant in the room is that a good percentage of players may well  be missing from both teams and not just with the Wales squad. Make no mistake it is a real sadness as the scheduling could have been avoided with just a touch of empathy and understanding. This is not to belittle Irish, Scots or Italian teams in any way but this is a derby game, 8 days before Wales again play Australia, channelling those little known rugby supporters Dylan Thomas and John Lennon, I find myself in moments before sleep thinking, ‘is it really that time again? It seems only yesterday’.

Returning to Friday, there are too few games that can offer the chance of big crowds but in a Welsh context those against Scarlets and Newport Gwent Dragons still represent the best chance. Cardiff already loses a home game against Ospreys so factors and challenges are certainly real for the business being able to fully blossom. Removing those selected to train with Wales, both loose-heads from Cardiff, both Scarlet centres, both first choice scrum halves, both hookers, a tight head here, a second row there, a couple of excellent back 3 players and all of a sudden it is hard to escape the feeling that the Pro 12 is becoming the LV Cup. Except in ticketing parlance, this is a Category A game, add to another ‘Friday night lights’ experience and it is hard to see the crowd topping 7000, this is on the upper scale of ambitious. It is arguable that if this game took place in the second week of December or even mid January it would not be beyond reasonable to hit a 9k to10k crowd. Here I need to state that I have no issue with paying to watch developin players or promising youngsters, I do & have for the BIC competition, my lament is the Pro12 should be seen as higher. Sadly on this occasion  it seems on this occasion ‘Empty Seats’ is the International game.

There needs to be an urgent sense check, a realisation that certain games matter to supporters, that we do have a legitimate demand and need to see the better players perform in the bigger games, not on the altar of entertainment but the game and this game in particular is about more than players being chiselled out to hold tackle bags. The idea of value for money is often under-utilised and on occasion when it is referenced, misused in Welsh rugby. It is beyond all reasonable sober debate that the International game is necessary for the long term financial vitality of the sport. What is not reasonable, sober or fair is its ubiquitous presence in the sport and the seeming choke hold it has. There is no doubt that those of us filtering into the Arms Park on Friday are not receiving full value for money due to the vagaries of the schedule. It is not unreasonable to highlight the differences in expectancy when attending Zebre or Treviso or even Leinster or Munster at home when compared to games against Welsh teams. I return to the point that this a game that could be used to fire the imagination of a thousand young players, to allow us to bathe in the aftermath of the best European start our teams have had in a long while (poor Newport Gwent Dragons, that trip to Russia was brutal) and make the case for the professional game here in Wales.

Instead by the game taking place on this particular Friday we lose a great opportunity to showcase vibrancy and things that are good about the game in Wales. Without wishing to come across as dismissing the efforts of those who will be selected, already the game has the feel of a cinematic trailer or worse an advert for money comparison websites, something necessary to get through before the main event. That is a terrible indictment on the Pro 12 and one that should never be in existence in a fully mature, forward looking competition. It again shows the perils of a central contract system but perhaps that is for another time.

The Cardiff vs Scarlets game has real meaning and a great tradition. Perhaps never a real derby in the sense that we were geographically close but a derby of the imagination and intuitive rugby that when on song rarely offers less than absorbing excellence and memorable moments. So, maybe a meeting of minds, Cardiff with our Capital city pomp and swagger, Llanelli with their self cultivated proletarian desire to run, both committed to a sense of football and offering a heritage that is written off and belittled by some, misunderstood by others but always cherished by those inside this game's tent. Games like this have meaning, to think of the number of tired battered and bruised Welsh squad members cramped around a television in the Vale Hotel watching almost moves me tears of real frustration.