Dai Sport columnist Phil Bennett doesn’t want much for Christmas – just a couple of packed stadiums, some local feuding, and signals that things are improving at the top level of Welsh rugby.
It’s Christmas and I’m looking for a sign – one that says “Sold Out” at the Liberty Stadium on Tuesday when the Ospreys meet the Scarlets in the Guinness Pro12.
If Welsh rugby cannot reach a full house for a game between the top two performing teams, local rivals, both brimming with try-scoring talent and excitement, when many fans are off work – then there’s more wrong with our game than I’d feared.
People should want to be at this match and if you’re a Cardiff Blues fan or Dragons supporter then you should want to be at the Arms Park on Boxing Day, too.
Forget the pain and the disappointment your team causes you, disregard for a while their often half-hearted attempts to welcome you from the far-flung corners of the region, try not to worry about that overseas bloke who earns more than he should, and cares less. Just get along and watch some top level rugby.
The Ospreys have won seven successive matches in all competitions and the Scarlets have won the same number on the bounce in the Pro12.
The Ospreys are the league’s top try-scorers, having managed 45 in 10 matches and although they’re third in the table, they’re only a point off top spot.
The Scarlets are four points behind, but they’re coming off a fantastic, gritty victory over Toulon in Europe.
But it’s the individual battles that I’m really looking forward to – especially with the Six Nations just around the corner.
I want to see Liam Williams running in space at the Ospreys defence and his opposite full-back, Dan Evans, proving to me why my mates among the Ospreys fans reckon he’s in form that deserves to put him in the Wales squad.
I want to see Keelan Giles – not just for this kid’s speed, but to notice how he copes under the pressure of a high profile game, rather than the free buffet he tucked into against Grenoble.
Steff Evans hasn’t grabbed as many headlines, but he might just turn out to be a better bet as an all-round international wing.
In the centre, Hadleigh Parks is in the form of his life for the Scarlets and I think he would have kept Jonathan Davies out of the side, even if Jonathan had been fit.
Scott Williams is also playing exceptionally well, but I’m keen to see Ashley Beck’s performance as the guy is a class act and if he stays fit he should be back in the Wales squad.
The half-back battle is just as intriguing. Does Steve Tandy pick Dan Biggar at No.10 or Sam Davies? I would probably just edge towards Biggar, by virtue of his tactical control and his goal-kicking.
Rhys Patchell is fulfilling some of the promise he showed for the Blues a few years back, now that he has the faith of the Scarlets behind him, whilst Gareth Davies has to stay at his current high level just to see off the other scrum-halves at the Scarlets.
The battle in the forwards will be just as intense and as revealing – particularly in the back row.
The Ospreys have more talent in that area than any team in the Pro12 apart from Leinster and could pick any combination from James King, Dan Baker, Justin Tipuric, Olly Cracknell and Sam Underhill.
The Scarlets cannot match that depth, but Aaron Shingler and John Barclay were good enough to shut out Toulon last week and Shingler has to be brought back into the fold by Wales.
For the Scarlets to win, they will need to do two things well in the front five battle. Jake Ball has to bully Alun Wyn Jones, rather than be bullied by him. And Rob Evans has to give the Ospreys front row the kind of rough ride at scrum time that he made them suffer back in March when the sides last met.
I think the Ospreys, though, will probably just sneak the victory through virtue of home advantage and the physical toll that Toulon match will have taken on the Scarlets players.
They will have had nine days to recover, but they took such a physical pounding, I think they will lose out by a single score.
I think it will be far more comfortable for the Blues at home to the Dragons – especially on that pitch, which people seem to still be under-estimating as an advantage factor.
Let me tell you, every player and coach I talk to reckons playing on that artificial surface every week gives the Blues a seven-point lead even before a game kicks-off.
The Blues should also have Nick Williams back from injury and it’s no coincidence that their poor form began when he was out of the side. He is their starting point and their go-to man.
It’s a shame George Earle has been banned and won’t play. I watched the incident against Bath and an eight-week ban for his hand briefly being seen on the face of an opponent was ridiculous.
Eye-gouging has no place in the game, but Earle was found guilty on the basis of a panel’s imagination, rather than fact.
The Dragons, though, are simply too easily beaten away from home. They’re a soft touch and until they win games like this one, then people like me will continue to call them out. That’s their challenge.