Ospreys v Scarlets has suddenly become biggest game in Welsh domestic rugby for years and these are the reasons why

The United Rugby Championship's Welsh Shield isn't exactly something that will be paraded in the clubhouse in years to come.

Seven weekends boasting at least one Welsh derby per round to end the season ought to have been accompanied by play-off pushes. Alas, with just a few games to go, that's looking unlikely.

The Scarlets harbour slim play-off hopes, sitting five points behind eighth place, simply waiting for the Vodacom Bulls or Edinburgh to slip up.

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However, while Dwayne Peel's side would like to be looking up at reaching the play-offs and putting together a repeat of their 2017 triumph, the fact that the Welsh Shield isn't sewn up means they still have to keep one eye looking over their shoulder.

With each of the Welsh sides outside the top eight, topping the Welsh Shield becomes the automatic route into Champions Cup rugby. Right now, the Scarlets are in control of that - leading the Ospreys by nine points.

The Swansea-based side have three games to go rather than two, but regardless of the extra match in hand, their chances of overtaking the Scarlets are somewhat slender given their chronic lack of bonus points. Perhaps crucially, in a twist that could make things interesting, is that the two sides face each other this weekend.

Were the Ospreys to beat the Scarlets at the Swansea.com Stadium, then the gap could be as small as four points between the two teams. Were that the case, the pendulum might just threaten to swing a little in the Ospreys' favour.

Then it would come down to the teams' run-ins. The Scarlets will only have the Stormers to come on the 21 May. That's quite a wait if their Welsh Shield fate was still undetermined.

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