CHRIS KIRWAN: Premiership split will have Dragons sweating as well as club officials

There is no chance of going through the motions over the festive period for nine of the teams in the ring-fenced top flight, a situation that no doubt will please the meddling bosses at the Welsh Rugby Union.

With two key rounds to be played on Boxing Day and New Year’s Eve, some envious glances may be cast to counterparts at Llanelli, Bridgend, Neath, Swansea and Bargoed, who are out of contention for the top flight and could possibly indulge a little bit more to enjoy the festivities without too much guilt.

Of course pride will kick in and they’ll pass on the pudding but it will be easy to make excuses given that everybody’s points totals will ridiculously go back to zero on January 8; how would Nico Rosberg have reacted to his season’s toil being rendered meaningless before taking to the track at Abu Dhabi?

The pressure is also off for leaders Merthyr and second-placed Aberavon but the rest of the squads will be spending the next couple of weeks gearing up for a spell that make or break their bid to be in the title hunt for rounds 16 to 22 rather than twiddling their thumbs.

It's not just club officials that have furrowed brows at the prospect of an uninspiring run-in, there will be fears at Newport Gwent Dragons’ training base in Ystrad Mynach.

Both 10th-placed Cross Keys and 11th-placed Newport realistically need to win all three remaining games to be a top-eight side but clash at Pandy Park on Boxing Day, so one will miss out.

Ebbw Vale have a bit more margin for error but the champions have slipped to ninth, albeit just six points off third with fixtures against Bedwas, Cardiff and Keys to come.

Bedwas, in fifth, should be fine after making a super start to the season but they won’t sleep easy until it’s mathematical.

The split will provide some manufactured excitement over the next month – it’s telling that S4C have become interested with some live dates scheduled – and also approaching the end of the ‘new’ season.

However, if this league is about development then the prospects of that occurring at the Dragons’ clubs in the New Year is at peril.

Burgeoning tighthead Leon Brown has played his rugby at Cross Keys since 2015 but does he just stay there if it’s a battle for the prestigious prize of ninth place? The same goes for Harri Keddie at Ebbw Vale and Arwel Robson at Newport.

That being said, the last of those three individuals will be missing for portions of what will be crunch time at the start of ‘Premiership Part Two: Premiership Harder’ because of Wales Under-20s commitments, another of the quirks that makes it tough for the league to balance being a genuine competition and a development tool.

It’s here that I start repeating myself from previous columns: What is the Premiership for? Surely in terms of bridging the gap to professional rugby regional A teams is a better bet?

One fears that come April there won’t have been many benefits for all this confusion and tinkering. Rather than fiddling with the league in a bid to improve the standard, there should be a more hands-off approach with the clubs just concentrating on winning and being as good as they can be within their resources.

Teams do enjoy playing their part in developing the next generation and there is pride at Eugene Cross Park, Rodney Parade, Bridge Field and Pandy Park whenever one of their allocated academy youngsters makes the grade.

However, perhaps it would be better for all concerned if the older Dragons prospects mix with fringe seniors to take on regional rivals, fixtures against Aviva Premiership A sides and in the British and Irish Cup rather than being in and out of club teams.

On Sunday Jonathan Davies raised the valid question on BBC’S Scrum V about whether the Principality Premiership really provides adequate preparation for full-time rugby. His point always raises the hackles but it is one that many a club official ponders in private.

As evidenced by the Dragons giving a chance to the rumbustious Bedwas back row forward Robson Blake this week, there is the odd unpolished gem in the top flight. Finding them and judging them isn’t helped by the constant tinkering to the Premiership.

NEWPORT Gwent Dragons recorded one of their finest victories last time they nipped over the border in the European Rugby Challenge Cup but they must cope with a different pressure in the west of England this time.

In April the Dragons upset the odds when Charlie Davies’ last-gasp try stunned Gloucester in a quarter-final at Kingsholm. On Saturday they head to Worcester as favourites, despite their well-documented travel sickness.

They haven’t won away from Newport since beating the Cherry and Whites, losing to Cardiff Blues, Montpellier, the Scarlets (in Cardiff and Llanelli), Zebre, Ulster, Treviso, Enisei, the Ospreys, Leicester and Leinster.

The Dragons won’t get a much better chance that making the short trip to Sixways to face a young Worcester side while the first-teamers are rested up for their Aviva Premiership survival tussle.

That is not to say the Warriors are there for the taking – and several players will be fired up to stake a claim for league spots – but Kingsley Jones’ side simply have to grasp this opportunity.

If they don’t then a third successive jaunt to the quarter-finals of the Challenge Cup will rest on not only doing the business against Worcester and Enisei in Newport but winning at Brive.

They’ve won at Stade Francais and Pau in recent years, but this Saturday is certainly the easier of the tasks on paper. Progress matters to the Dragons while the competition is frankly a distraction for the Warriors.

Lewis Evans & Co have done so much good in recent weeks on home soil and an away win, naturally followed up against Worcester on home soil, would be a real boon.

They memorably prospered on the plastic of Newcastle two seasons ago and need to repeat the trick on the artificial surface in Worcester.