Posted by Cardiff Blues’ first three fixtures in the Guinness Pro14’s Rainbow Cup have been announced with three Welsh derbies getting the competition underway.
Dai Young’s men will get going away at Ospreys on Saturday 24th April with a 5.15pm kick-off, before a week off as European competitions reach the semi-final stage.
Action resumes on Sunday 9th May as Dragons are welcomed to the Arms Park at 1pm, before the trip to Llanelli is made to face Scarlets on Saturday 15th May at 3pm.
All games will be shown on Premier Sports before S4C will broadcast delayed coverage. Fixtures for the final three rounds will be confirmed by the organisers in due course as mystery reigns over the possibility of the South African sides travelling to Europe.
It has also been confirmed that the Rainbow Cup will see three law trials approved by World Rugby. The first of those is the Red Card Replacement which will see players sent from the field allowed to be replaced after 20 minutes.
There is also the Captain’s Challenge, whereby the captain of each side will be allowed to use a referral to the TMO during proceedings. In the first 75 minutes reviews will only be used in the lead up to try-scoring or for foul play incidents, after that it can be used on any refereeing decisions. If a challenge is successful then the team will retain their challenge.
Finally, whenever a side is held-up in-goal, a knock-on occurs in-goal, or when the ball is grounded by a defender in-goal after a kick through, a goal-line drop-out will have to be taken, rather than a five-metre scrum or a 22-metre drop-out.
Cardiff Blues Rainbow Cup fixtures
Ospreys v Cardiff Blues – Saturday 24th April – 5.15pm
Cardiff Blues v Dragons – Sunday 9th May – 1pm
Scarlets v Cardiff Blues – Saturday 15th May – 3pm
Cardiff Rugby Life 