The Battle of the Loughor

It goes back to the days of Llanelli’s arch rivalry with Swansea, the Turks against the Jacks, ‘The Battle of the Loughor’.

The Loughor Bridge, originally a railway viaduct built in 1852, stretches across the beautiful Loughor Estuary and continues to be an iconic dividing point between two great rugby hotbeds.

On the West side of the Bridge, the Scarlets, on the east, the Ospreys.

Fifteen years ago, two of Wales’ finest players, Stephen Jones and Adam Jones,  posed for a pre-match photo to promote the upcoming derby game.

And this week, Scarlets scrum-half Archie Hughes and Ospreys No. 8 Morgan Morris replicated that picture on a stunning sun-kissed evening.

Rarely do these matches between the West Wales rivals need any further motivation, but with a crowd of 10,000-plus expected at Parc y Scarlets and crucial URC points at stake in the ‘Race to the Eight’, it doesn’t get much bigger.

“It is massive, it is an occasion we all look forward to ,” said Hughes, one of a number of home-grown players in the Scarlets squad.

“Everyone is fighting for places to play in this game,” added Morris, whose father Paul played for the Scarlets during the late nineties.

To add a bit of extra spice to proceedings, the two West Wales neighbours will meet again eight days later in the EPCR Challenge Cup round of 16 at the Swansea.com Stadium.

Tickets are still available for the first instalment of the West Wales derby at tickets.scarlets.wales