Two fiery Welsh derbies kicked off 2025 with a bang as Ospreys managed a draw at third-placed Cardiff, despite playing more than half the game with a red card.
Scarlets kicked off the New Year in style as Blair Murray led the charge to drag Dwayne Peel’s side back into the playoff places.
Here are the reports for both contests:
Cardiff 13 – 13 Ospreys
The Ospreys overcame the first-half red card of lock James Fender for a croc roll to earn a 13-13 draw against Cardiff in front of a sell-out crowd at Cardiff Arms Park.
Despite the red card in the 38th minute, the visitors were the better side throughout the contest as Cardiff had to survive sustained late pressure in order to grab two points and keep themselves third in the United Rugby Championship.
Young fly-half Dan Edwards scored all of Ospreys’ points with a wonderfully taken try, two penalties and a conversion while James Botham and Dafydd Hughes scored Cardiff’s tries, which were both unconverted, alongside a Ben Thomas penalty
Cardiff flew out of the traps to dominate the opening exchanges and turned down three kickable penalties, opting for lineouts from short-range instead and were rewarded with a try from Botham from the back of a maul.
Ospreys’ penalty count was five in the opening 10 minutes, but they sparked into life when scrum-half Reuben Morgan-Williams sliced open the Cardiff defence from a midfield scrum.
Edwards was on hand to carry on the move but powerhouse No.8 Morgan Morris uncharacteristically lost possession in the process of touching down.
However, they did appear to have scored when centre Keiran Williams ripped through the defence to send Morgan-Williams over, but after TMO replays ruled a knock on in the build-up, they had to settle for three points.
Just before the break, Ospreys suffered a hammer blow when Fender was sent off for a nasty croc roll on Dan Thomas, the expected outcome with the recent crackdown on that trucking technique.
Second Half
With Cardiff leading 5-3 at half-time, the first real action after the restart saw second row Teddy Williams yellow-carded for repeated team infringements.
Ospreys took advantage of the numbers being level when Edwards danced through the defence for an excellent individual try, only for the hosts to respond minutes later when Hughes scored their second try from the back of a maul.
Williams returned from the sin-bin but was soon replaced there by Rhys Litterick for persistent scrum infringements, an area which Ospreys dominated all afternoon, with Edwards kicking the resulting penalty.
However, Thomas immediately responded with one for Cardiff to level the scores.
The final quarter saw Ospreys, despite being a man short, pile on the pressure and come inches away from snatching an unlikely victory multiple times.
But it was not to be as Cardiff’s defence stood strong and the sides shared the spoils in the first game of the New Year.
Scarlets 32 – 25 Dragons
Scarlets’ dominant first-half showing ensured a comfortable 32-15 home win over the Dragons as Dwayne Peel’s side moved back into the URC play-off places.
The hosts crossed the line four times courtesy of Blair Murray (twice), Josh Macleod and Ellis Mee while both Sam Costelow and Ioan Lloyd kicked 12 points between them.
The Scarlets’ first try was a contender for the try of the season.
After the Dragons lost possession, Scarlets spread it wide before Taine Plumtree released Welsh winger Tom Rogers with a superb offload down the touchline.
The 26-year-old broke a few tackles before another excellent offload found the hands of Johnny Williams and Gareth Davies, who then put Blair Murray in space for the try under the posts, which Sam Costelow converted.
Scarlets’s next score came from The Dragons’ failure to deal with a restart after a Sam Costelow penalty.
Some neat handling from Williams and Sam Lousi found Josh Macleod, who then threw a lovely looping pass to find Murray on the wing as he danced past the last defender for his second of the half
Peel’s side were in complete control and soon claimed their third try when Macleod powered over from short range off the back of a maul with Costelow adding the extras to give the hosts a commanding 24-3 lead at the break
Second Half
The Scarlets made a strong start to the second-half when Gareth Davies ripped the ball from the possession of a Dragons player straight from the kickoff.
The ball eventually found Williams, who very nearly butchered an overlap, but offloaded in contact to find Ellis Mee who touched down.
Despite the 26-point deficit, the Dragons refused to throw in the towel and got a try back when Taine Basham barrelled over the line from close range.
They added more pressure in the closing stages when replacement scrum-half Che Hope broke clear before putting Huw Anderson over for their second try.
But the hosts put the result beyond any doubt a few minutes later when Ioan Lloyd slammed over a penalty to secure a hard-fought victory for the Scarlets.
