Is it too soon to start mentioning Grand Slam?

By Helen ‘Helzbach’ Davies

Yes, I’m back! With the stresses and strains of everyday life, rugby hasn’t exactly taken a back seat….but writing about it has!

However, a little juggling and the time has come to share my rugby views with you once more!

It’s been an exciting year for rugby in Wales, with the performance of the Welsh team in the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand turning the whole of the Nation into supporters.

I firmly believe that we should have and could have won that Semi Final game against France, despite Warburton’s red card (which should have only been yellow!)

Of course, had we won that match and got to the final…well, who knows – we could well have gone all the way! Imagine it!

The slight problem with being a Scarletarian is though; club always seems to come over country! Yes, it was amazing to watch the World Cup and see the boys do so well, but it was even more amazing that it was the Scarlet contingent that seemed to be leading by example and making the Rugby World sit up and take notice of the style and flair that the Welsh team was playing.

This was nothing new to us of course – it’s what we faithful watch week in, week out!

It was incredible to think that a matter of months previously, we were watching these ‘youngsters’ making their debuts for the Scarlets, but now rugby greats are raving about them.

This, of course, proved a bit of a problem for the Scarlets, these players that had been brought through the rugby ranks and had been the ones that had been the stars of the season the previous year, were now stars on the bigger stage!

It is well publicised that the Scarlets have faced their fair share of financial worries the past few years, and with no multi-million pound backer, on paper, we shouldn’t be even competing with the teams we do.

Amazing as it is that these players are getting their International call ups so early, it just adds to the Scarlets vicious circle of bringing players through to International level and then losing them to bigger cheques books and having to start all over again!

Anyway, enough of the International rugby for now………it’s been a pretty good season so far for the Scarlets, especially considering the youngsters have been replaced by even younger youngsters!!

Currently sitting in seventh place in RaboDirect Pro 12 League, it has been a pretty average season. Games that could have been won, yet again fell victim to the opportunities lost disease.

Of course the one thing that this season will be remembered for above ALL else is that following a draw in the Liberty Stadium in November, Boxing Day, December 26th 2011, was THE day that we finally did it….BEAT THE OSPREYS.

Surely one of the highlights of the decade!!

It was always going to happen – I’d had it in writing off Nigel Davies pre-season, but the feeling of elation and almost disbelief that we’d actually done it….well words can’t describe it!

Even now, it brings a smile to the face just thinking about it!

Another highlight of the season so far was the memorable victory in Franklins Gardens against Northampton in the Heineken Cup. Once again the Scarlets had been drawn in a difficult group, and it was the hope of all the travelling supporters that we could possibly sneak a win, but a bonus point win was beyond all expectations!

That game has so many wonderful memories, but personally the eerie silence of the Saints fans not joining together as a communal choir to sing ‘Oh when the Saints go marching in’ was just priceless!

Unfortunately, this year’s European Campaign didn’t quite follow the script, and despite a great start, a Quarter Final place was a step too far as Northampton gained revenge for their home fixture. Once again, the Scarlets did everything but score towards the end of the game, and a heartbreaking interception try saw Nigel Davies’ men travel to France, knowing that they needed to win to keep any hope alive.

Win they did, to ensure that European rugby isn’t over for the Scarlets this season as we succeeded in securing a Quarter Final place in the Amlin Cup!

So, Easter Sunday this year will not be spent swapping Easter Eggs, but travelling from Toulouse to Brive to watch the mighty Scarlets hopefully march forward into the Semi Finals of the competition.

Talking of Semi Finals, the LV= Cup has proved to be a successful competition for the Llanelli based region once again this season and early March will see the Scarlets faithful once again travel across the Severn Bridge, hoping and praying for a similar result in Franklins Gardens as earlier in the season as the region competes against Northampton in the Semi Finals of the competition.

Of course, as the domestic rugby plods along, the Six Nations is upon as once again.

With Welsh rugby riding high following the World Cup, hopes are high for a successful tournament.

The game against the Irish was basically a very good game of rugby. Once again, it was great to see the Scarlets boys showing the rest how to play rugby with both George North and Jonathan Davies standing out. Ireland away was always going to be a difficult one, but with an aging Ireland not the force they once were, Wales hung in to secure a great win.

The win against Scotland in Cardiff on Sunday means that Wales are at the top of the Six Nations table! It was a game that Wales were never really going to lose and despite stepping up a gear in the second half, it always seemed that they always had something else in the tank if they needed it.

From a Scarlets point of view, the Six Nations has seen three new Internationals so far….Ben Morgan choosing his place of birth has become the first Scarlets player ever to play for England (why oh why did it have to be England?!!), and both Lou Reed and Aaron Shingler made their debuts against Scotland which saw a total of seven Scarlets players involved in the game!

So, with 2 wins out of 2, a mouth-watering, possible Triple Crown winning tie in Twickers, against an England team that were VERY lucky to win against the Italians up next and then both Italy and France at home…..could it be that come March 17th 2012, we are celebrating a third Grand Slam in 8 years????? Cross everything!!!!!