There will be no return for Welsh rugby’s Judgement Day this season.
The regional double header at the Principality Stadium has been mothballed for the past two years due to the venue being transformed into a NHS field hospital and Covid restrictions on crowds.
It had been expected to be resurrected for this season with fans now allowed back inside grounds.
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Saturday April 23 had seemed the obvious date, with two Welsh derbies scheduled for that day - Cardiff v Ospreys and Dragons v Scarlets.
But it’s now emerged there will be no stadium double header.
Instead, the matches will be staged at the Arms Park (5.15pm) and Rodney Parade (3pm).
There appear to be a variety of reasons why Judgement Day is not returning this season.
For one thing, there is the limited time available to organise the event in the wake of the ban on spectators at sports events in Wales only being lifted last month.
It also seems that selling Six Nations tickets has been prioritised with a lot of ground to make up on Wales’ three home games against Scotland, France and Italy.
Ticket sales for these games had been slower than usual amid uncertainty over whether fans would be allowed in to watch them.
There is also the aspect of giving loyal regional supporters additional home games given the disruption to the schedule caused by Covid cancellations.
It’s understood that Judgement Day will return next season.
Over the seven years in which it has taken place, it has proved popular in terms of fan numbers and a valuable money spinner.
Launched in 2013, it reached it’s peak in 2016 attendance-wise, with a record-breaking 68,263 fans flocking into the stadium, while there have been four other instances of 50,000-plus crowds.
The east Wales regions have been the “home” teams on each occasion so far.
The plan was for the Ospreys and Scarlets to take on that role for the first time in April 2020, but that had to be ditched as the event was called off.
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