Welsh Rugby Union - Judgement Day X - all to play for at Principality Stadium

The biggest day out in Welsh pro-club rugby is back at its spiritual home at Principality Stadium for the 10^th time and the best players in Wales will be battling it out for local bragging rights on Saturday 19 April.

And there is all to play for at the home of Welsh rugby with three of the four regions still in the hunt for a top eight finish and a shot at the play-offs. In the tightest season to date in the BKT United Rugby Championship, with four rounds left to play there are:

15 teams still in the race for the top eight

3 teams on 36 points

3 teams on 33 points

4 points separating 6th to 13th

The action at JDX kicks-off with the Ospreys against Cardiff Rugby at 3.00pm before the Dragons meet the Scarlets at 5.30pm. The Dragons will feature Welsh internationals Scott and Rhodri Williams at centre and scrum half against the Scarlets.

They were both in the Scarlets side that beat the then Newport Gwent Dragons when Judgement Day was launched on 30 March 2013.

George North runs in the first try at Judgement Day in 2013

The honour of scoring the first try fell to one of the giants of Welsh rugby of the time, George North. The then Scarlets’ wing wrote his name into the history books with the first of the Scarlets three tries in the 26^th minute, and he went on to grab a second in the 68^th minute.

Last year at Cardiff City Stadium it was Wales and Ospreys hooker Dewi Lake went over for the 100^th try in what was the 18^th match in the series. He will be back for more over the Easter weekend.

While North was the first to score a brace of tries, there have been nine other players who have matched that feat – Hanno Dirksen (Ospreys, 2016), Tadhg Beirne (Scarlets, 2018), Matthew Screech (Dragons, 2019), Johnny McNicholl (Scarlets, 2019), Thomas Young (Cardiff, 2023), Tomi Lewis (Scarlets, 2024), Sio Tomkinson (Dragons, 2024), Mason Grady (Cardiff, 2024), Nicky Smith (Ospreys, 2024).

The quickest try at Judgement Day came from Dragons and Wales hooker Elliot Dee with his third minute try for the ‘Men of Gwent’ against Scarlets in the 31-14 victory in 2023. Prior to that it was Wales wing Alex Cuthbert fourth minute touchdown for Cardiff in their 17-13 win over the Scarlets in 2014 that held the record.

Rhodri Williams is still going strong at Rodney Parade and is another survivor from the opening game of the 2013 Judgement Day. He was a replacement for Aled Davies, now at Cardiff, in the Scarlets side and his half-back partner when he came on was Owen Williams, now playing at Ospreys.

Sam Parry made his Judgement Day debut as a replacement for the Dragons in that same game and is now playing for the Ospreys. Cardiff’s current No8 Taulupe Faletau made his Judgement Day debut in 2013 for the Dragons, while his Wales and British & Irish Lions teammate Justin Tipuric played for Ospreys.

Last year’s event at Cardiff City Stadium saw the four teams rack up 109 points, the third event in a row that fans were able to see a century of points scored – 115 (2019), 104 (2023), 109 (2024). But the highest number of points scored at Judgement Day came in 2016 when the Ospreys beat Cardiff 40-27 and the Scarlets won 34-20 against the Dragons.

It was in 2016 that the record was set for the biggest crowd at Judgement Day, when 68,262 turned up to watch the two matches

Dewi Lake crashes over for the 100th try on Judgement Day in 2024

JDX TEAMS

OSPREYS v CARDIFF RUGBY – 3.00pm

Ospreys: Jack Walsh; Daniel Kasende, Evardi Boshoff, Keiran Williams, Keelan Giles; Dan Edwards, Reuben Morgan-Williams; Gareth Thomas, Sam Parry, Tom Botha, James Fender, James Ratti, Tristan Davies, Jac Morgan (captain), Morgan Morse
Reps: Dewi Lake, Garyn Phillips, Ben Warren, Will Spencer, Lewis Lloyd, Kieran Hardy, Owen Williams, Iestyn Hopkins

Cardiff Rugby: Cam Winnett; Josh Adams, Harri Millard, Ben Thomas, Gabriel Hamer-Webb; Callum Sheedy, Johan Mulder; Corey Domachowski, Liam Belcher (captain), Keiron Assiratti, Ben Donnell, Teddy Williams, Alex Mann, James Botham, Taulupe Faletau
Reps: Evan Lloyd, Danny Southworth, Rhys Litterick, Rory Thornton, Alun Lawrence, Thomas Young, Aled Davies, Rory Jennings

DRAGONS v SCARLETS – 5.30pm

Dragons RFC: Ewan Rosser; Ashton Hewitt, Aneurin Owen (captain), Scott Williams, Jared Rosser; Angus O’Brien, Rhodri Williams; Dylan Kelleher-Griffiths, Elliot Dee, Paula Latu, Ben Carter, Ryan Woodman, Shane Lewis-Hughes, Taine Basham, Aaron Wainwright
Reps: Brodie Coghlan, Rhodri Jones, Chris Coleman, Barny Langton-Cryer, Dan Lydiate, Dane Blacker, Will Reed, Joe Westwood

Scarlets: Blair Murray; Tom Rogers, Macs Page, Eddie James, Ellis Mee; Ioan Lloyd, Gareth Davies; Alec Hepburn, Marnus van der Merwe, Henry Thomas, Alex Craig, Sam Lousi, Vaea Fifita, Josh Macleod (captain), Taine Plumtree
Reps: Ryan Elias, Sam O’Connor, Sam Wainwright, Jac Price, Jarrod Taylor, Archie Hughes, Joe Roberts, Ioan Nicholas

JUDGEMENT DAY RESULTS

2013 (36,174) Dragons 20-28 Scarlets; Cardiff Blues 16-23 Ospreys
2014 (30,441) Cardiff Blues 17-13 Scarlets; Dragons 10-20 Ospreys
2015 (52,762) Cardiff Blues 23-31 Ospreys; Dragons 10-29 Scarlets
2016 (68,262) Cardiff Blues 27-40 Ospreys; Dragons 20-34 Scarlets
2017 (60,642) Cardiff Blues 35-17 Ospreys; Dragons 16-21 Scarlets
2018 (62,338) Dragons 8-33 Scarlets; Cardiff Blues 23-26 Ospreys
2019 (51,297) Dragons 34-32 Scarlets; Cardiff Blues 23-26 Ospreys
2023 (41,139) Dragons 31-14 Scarlets; Ospreys 21-38 Cardiff Rugby
2024 (20,167) Scarlets 32-15 Dragons; Cardiff Rugby 29-33 Ospreys