By David Williams

With only two wins in the BKT United Rugby Championship in the first half of the 2023-24 season, Scarlets head coach Dwayne Peel is hoping for a better start to 2024 when he takes his side to Rodney Parade for a New Year’s Day derby clash with fellow strugglers, the Dragons.

The Dragons are currently propping up the table with only one win, at home against the Ospreys, to their credit.

Only five points separate the two teams, who both lost on Boxing Day.

After Cardiff had run in nine tries in their stunning 55-21 win over Dragons at the Arms Park, the Scarlets slumped to a 25-11 home defeat to the Ospreys.

Dwayne Peel: "Winning is a product of good performance and accuracy. We have got to get that performance right, but we are too inconsistent at the moment.” https://t.co/9PjD7g9S3H

— Adam Hughes (@AdamHughes75) December 27, 2023

It was a first win at Parc Y Scarlets for the Ospreys since 2015 and complete the double over their west Wales rivals.

“To come in at 0-0 at half-time was disappointing because I thought we were pretty dominant in that first half. We then had a period of 20 minutes where we didn’t see much of the ball and Ospreys took advantage with two tries,” said Peel.

“There were large periods of the game that were better from us but inaccuracy was a problem. were obviously all disappointed in the changing room.

“It’s important now that we prepare well this week and go to Rodney Parade with a lot of enthusiasm and energy. We have to take what was good from this game and build on it.

“Winning is a product of good performance and accuracy. We have got to get the performance right, but we are too inconsistent at the moment.”

Yesterday's derby caused head coach Dai Flanagan quite the headache 🤕

Flanagan has acknowledged his job is under pressure after suffering a record loss to rivals Cardiff 👀#BBCRugby

— BBC Sport Wales (@BBCSportWales) December 27, 2023

Peel is confident of having Wales outside half Sam Costelow, who pulled out of the Boxing Day game, fit to return on New Year’s Day.

He also expects Sam Lousi and Josh Macleod to be able to team up in the back row.

Both coaches will be expecting a reaction after their derby defeats on Boxing Day and Dragons boss Dai Flanagan was the first to tell his players that their performance in the Welsh capital was unacceptable.

“We froze massively, individually and collectively. They put some pressure on us, and we cracked,” admitted Flanagan.

“Watching that first half performance was really difficult. We trained and prepared well, there was a good buzz, and then you see that on the field – this is the lowest I’ve been.

“It is difficult to understand why, and we have got to figure out why because that is unacceptable in a derby game against your local rivals.

“We’re sorry, and I’m personally sorry, because that is not acceptable. We could have got a try bonus, but let’s be honest, we didn’t deserve anything.

“If it is one or two things, it is easy to fix, but then you see that, on the back of the two weeks where we have collectively been good. The intensity, the pressure, the physicality that Cardiff put on us, we didn’t have an answer for.

“We now have to be honest with each other. We should be collectively tighter, we must be in this together.

“If I am the Scarlets I am licking my lips to play us next week.”

💥 𝙏𝙃𝙍𝙊𝙒𝘽𝘼𝘾𝙆 𝙏𝙃𝙐𝙍𝙎𝘿𝘼𝙔 | Ahead of our NYD derby clash 🆚 @scarlets_rugby at Rodney Parade, we take you 🔙 to the last time we faced our West Wales rivals in @URCOfficial action…👀💪⤵️

🐉31-14🔴

🎟️ https://t.co/9dJJp88SFq#WeAreGwentRugby pic.twitter.com/mEf8PLJzQl

— Dragons RFC 🐉 (@dragonsrfc) December 28, 2023