Scarlets collected their second point of the European Rugby Champions Cup campaign picking up a bonus point in the 6-9 home defeat to Glasgow Warriors on Saturday evening.
Not the victory the Scarlets had hopes for to get their season back on track ahead of the Guinness PRO12 Boxing Day derby against Ospreys but a vast improvement on the 43-6 defeat to Glasgow the previous week at their Scotstoun home.
Speaking after the game Head Coach Wayne Pivac said: “We’re obviously disappointed to lose the game but there were marked improvements on last week. I felt the penalty count went against us but we certainly saw improvements.
“Not conceding any tries from the scrum was a big turnaround from last week. We were under pressure in that area throughout the game last week and it was a massive turnaround tonight. The scrum was one of the pleasing aspects. We’ll look to build on that for next week.”
Having conceded six tries at the Scotstoun Stadium last weekend Pivac believes that keeping Glasgow away from the whitewash on Saturday evening will help his side mentally as they head into the West Wales derby against Ospreys on Boxing Day.
He went on to say: “We’re in a much better shape mentally than we were last week and it was a step in the right direction. The focus now is the PRO12 and we have to build on this performance.
Looking back at the region’s time in Europe so far this season Pivac said: “That game tonight could have gone either way. It’s disappointing looking back to the Northampton game, we feel that was down to us dropping that game. We’ve had two games where we were beaten convincingly but we have to put it into perspective with the heavy injury toll we’ve had.
“We will be trying to get a win in the last two games.”
With the focus returning to the Welsh derbies for the festive period Pivac commented on the ‘special’ occasions but was cautious of getting carried away with his side’s domestic form.
“It’s a special game. We’ll lick our wounds after tonight. We’re sitting at the top of the table but it’s not quite at the half way stage, we have to get a result out here against the Ospreys.”
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