Super Scarlets Secure Semi Final Spot

It’s been a long old week, building up to the biggest night in the history of Parc y Scarlets since it’s move from Stradey Park in 2008. Anticipation has been in the air and you could feel just how special a night it was as soon as you walked through the gates.
It was obvious that a tremendous amount of work had gone in behind the scenes, and for that, the hard-working hospitality staff must take huge credit. Fans were surprised with free flags and commemorative Quarter Final cups, with the Parc ‘bouncing’ in the hours leading up to kick-off.
On the pitch, the team had very much picked itself with Leigh Halfpenny, Rob Evans, Ken Owens, Gareth Davies and John Barclay all returning. However, it was the whole atmosphere that really stole the show with the flag-waving Scarlets faithful in fine voice during the build-up.
It was the Scarlets that were offered the first opportunity of putting points on the board following a high tackle on Skipper, Ken Owens. Mr Reliable, Leigh Halfpenny made no mistake as his kick sailed through the posts to give his team a 3 points to 0 lead.
La Rochelle hit back following a dominant scrum as they drove forward into the Scarlets’ 22. A chip kick from Arthur Retiere that saw him gather his own kick proved tricky for Steff Evans. Despite it seeming that the ball had been knocked on at some point, the TMO deemed that Romain Sazy had managed to get a hand to the ball before Halfpenny and the visitors were awarded the try. Alexis Bales added the conversion as La Rochelle took the lead by 3 points to 7.
It was a quick response from the Scarlets though, as minutes later a second successful kick from Leigh Halfpenny put the home team back to within a point – 6 points to 7.
Wing, Paul Asquith was forced to leave the action as he limped off, to be replaced by Josh Macleod. This saw James Davies switch to the Wing, a position he played in both in the Pro12 Semi Final last season and the Boxing Day derby against the Ospreys.
A huge tackle on Aaron Shingler by Botia halted a promising Scarlets attack, however, monster Prop, Uini Atonio was penalised at the breakdown offering Halfpenny a chance to put the Scarlets back ahead. It was three from three for the Full Back as he maintained his 100% kicking record to give the Scarlets the lead by 9 points to 7.
Sterling work from the Scarlets pack saw the men in red secure a confident-boosting penalty at the scrum, with referee, Luke Pearce penalising all eight La Rochelle players!
As frustrations seemed to be mounting for the visitors, so did the penalty count against them as a tackle off the ball offered a fourth kick-able penalty attempt for Halfpenny. His kick saw the Scarlets extended their lead to 12 points to 7.
Unfortunately, some handling errors crept into the Scarlets’ attack and thwarted their attempts to extend their lead, however immense pressure at the breakdown saw the Scarlets display their defensive prowess.
La Rochelle were offered a late opportunity to end the half with a try as they secured an attacking line-out deep in the Scarlets’ 22, with the initial jeers from the crowd turning to cheers as the French knocked on.
Rhys Patchell opted to kick for touch rather than counter-attack and a penalty against the Scarlets at the line-out saw Alexis Bales’ successful kick narrow the hosts’ lead to just two points as the half drew to a close – 12 points to 10.
The second half started positively for the home team, with the Scarlets stealing a La Rochelle line-out before setting up another attacking phase, however, Bales managed to intercept. Unfortunately, Steff Evans fell victim to an elbow to the face in his attempt to tackle Bales and was forced to leave the pitch for a HIA.
Replacement, Dan Jones forced a switch amongst the backs, as he took his place at Outside Half with Rhys Patchell switching to Full Back and Leigh Halfpenny moving to the Wing.
Halfpenny restored the Scarlets’ lead to five points once more as he kicked his fifth consecutive penalty to put the home side ahead by 15 points to 10.
It was incredible defensive display from the Scarlets as they dealt with wave after wave of La Rochelle attack as they aimed to notch up their second try by attacking close to the Scarlets’ line.
The Scarlets were finally rewarded for their grit and determination, securing a penalty to clear their lines. Live-wire Scrum Half, Gareth Davies took the kick quickly, taking everyone by surprise as he galloped downfield.
It was thanks to a break in midfield by Hadleigh Parkes that the Scarlets were able to cross for their first try. Following an attacking lineout, the Scarlets forwards drove their way towards the La Rochelle 22 before Parkes burst through before off-loading to Rhys Patchell who managed to cross the line. Halfpenny’s conversion gave the home team a commanding 22 points to 10 advantage.
However, La Rochelle proved that they had no intention of giving up and were soon back in attacking mode as Aaron Shingler and Scott Williams managed to tackle Wing, Steve Barry who looked almost certain to score.
As the penalty count against the home side increased, the Scarlets faced ending the match with 14 men as Will Boyde was shown a yellow card for coming in at the side.
La Rochelle were probably fortunate not to receive a yellow themselves with try-scorer, Sazy penalised at the breakdown. This offered Halfpenny another opportunity to kick at goal to seal the win as it would put the home team more than two tries ahead with just over 5 minutes left of the game.
It wasn’t the most difficult kick of the evening, but Halfpenny saw his effort sail just to the right of the posts.
The Scarlets booked their place in the Semi Finals following a break from James Davies who off-loaded to Scott Williams who demonstrated his pace to race over for the Scarlets’ second try.
Halfpenny added the conversion to give the Scarlets the lead by 29 points to 10, with his personal tally of 19 points paramount to the victory.
With a matter of seconds remaining, and the Scarlets still on the attack, playing deep in the La Rochelle 22, hopes of a third try right on the final whistle were thwarted as Gourdon managed to rip the ball before passing to Pierre Boudenhent who raced the length of the pitch for a consolation try. Benjamin Noble added the conversion to give a final score of 29 points to 17, but by then, celebrations had already begun.
Memorable scenes followed as the team completed a lap of honour to thank the record 15,373 that had created such a special atmosphere and sang and shouted their team to victory. Obviously, those lucky Helzbach cupcakes also played their part too!
It was a night that will live long in the memory, another one of those ‘I was there’ nights and a night that saw Parc y Scarlets finally feel like home, with Head Coach, Wayne Pivac confirming just how important the support had been, “It was just superb. We knew it was going to be fantastic and we knew it would lift the boys.”
He continued, “With 25 minutes to go they were cheering every turnover and every time the ball went out. The boys fed off that and all commented afterwards what a great atmosphere it was.”
Speaking after the game, Pivac couldn’t hide his pride, with a special mention for Leigh Halfpenny, “I told him in the changing room it was a superb display and he was right up there for man of the match with Ken.”
An emotional Ken Owens, who was on the bench the last time Llanelli were involved in an European Quarter Final against Munster, incidentally on Friday, March 30th 2007 added, “I’m just so proud of the boys. They turned up on the day and delivered.”
“It’s knock-out rugby, we’ve learnt you can try and play as much as you want, but you have just got to find a way to win, and that’s what we did,” he continued.
Pivac concluded, “The whole town and region will remember this game for a long time.”
The Scarlets will now find out on Sunday whether they will be travelling to Coventry to face Saracens or to Dublin to take on Leinster in the Semi Finals that take place on the weekend of April 20th, with many supporters undoubtedly preferring to travel to the West Midlands rather than over to Ireland.
But for now, it is with the words of Ken Owens that I will end……”We can dare to dream….”