‘Sixteen’ man Leinster Spoil Scarlets’ opening party

By Helen ‘Helzbach’ Davies

At last! The time has finally come! Summer’s over and back to school is in full swing and that means one thing –rugby’s back!

Whilst the rest of us have been enjoying our summer break, the squad have been busy preparing for the new season. Reflecting on last season, Simon Easterby explained that it had been a difficult one due to the number of experienced players that had left like Sean Lamont and Stephen Jones. This left a very young team.

Rob McCusker’s first season as captain had been a successful one – the goal of reaching the play-off finals had been reached, even if the team were disappointing in the final two games of the season. However, due to lack of maturity, age wise, McCusker wasn’t always given the support he required and it was this that led to the decision to announce the Co-captains for this season, with British Lion Jon Davies along with Rob McCusker sharing the honours.

Easterby added that both Rob and Jon would share the responsibility as a Captain isn’t just a Captain on the pitch. Along with a leadership group within the team, they would ensure that that the whole environment off the pitch is well-balanced, game plans are implemented and basically lead by example. The decision of who would be match day captain would be made on a weekly basis.

It is obvious that a refreshed Jon Davies is looking forward to the new challenge ahead of him. Continually playing at a high standard and with the experience of both the Lions Series and International rugby, he will most certainly lead by example. Jon admitted it was a huge honour to be handed the Co-captaincy and that he was grateful for the opportunity to work alongside Rob. As Rob stated, two heads are better than one, and after being thrown in at the deep end last season, there was more structure in place for the coming year and he was looking forward to the support he would receive from Jon.

Both can be looked upon as being true Scarlets and agreed how fortunate they were to play along-side world class players like Regan King, David Lyons and Stephen Jones. They hoped that they could offer the same type of role model to the younger players in the squad today.

Unfortunately, the three warm up games didn’t go to plan, however it was hoped that last season’s winning start could be replicated this year with current Rabo Direct Champions Leinster being the opposition for the first game of the new season.

Expectation was high as the team ran out to the acoustic sounds of SosbanFach and it was the belief of the faithful that the men in Scarlet could forget the last couple of games of last season, and also the friendlies, and gain revenge for the defeat in the play-offs.

It was a positive start from the home team with the forwards gaining the hard yards, driving through the defence into the Leinster 22. A break from Aaron Shingler and subsequent penalty saw his brother Steve making a welcome return and securing the first points of the new season with his successful penalty to give the Scarlets a 3-0 lead.

A wrong decision in the line out was possibly the start of things to come, but it didn’t seem to dampen the Scarlets’ spirits as Centre Scott Williams raised the volume in the stands with a scintillating run down-field, which rewarded him with a dangerous tackle around his neck. Dave Kearney’s yellow card for the offence saw Leinster down to 14 men and Shingler doubling his tally to bring the score to 6-0.

Leinster’s Jimmy Gopperth was offered the opportunity to bridge the lead with a penalty from the half way line, but fortunately for the Scarlets even though he had the legs, he was just wide with his efforts.

The confidence in the Scarlets team was evident, particularly in the forward play. A free kick from a Leinster scrum saw Aaron Shingler bursting through the defence once again, this was continued by Rhys Priestland before captain Rob McCusker really did lead by example as he crossed for the game’s first try. Shingler continued with his 100% record to give the home team a 13 points to 0 lead!

Leinster showed their character by scoring a try of their own with Martin Moore driving over. Gopperth added the conversion to put the visitors within a score of the Scarlets – 13-7.

The men in red were successful in keeping possession from the restart until the referee’s intervention, which was a decision that was met with much volume from the Scarlet faithful in the stands! Despite some good attacking play from the Leinster team, the Scarlets’ defence held firm.

Gopperth narrowed the gap even further with his second successful penalty to bring the scoreline to 13-10 but it was the home team who completed the first half scoring.

Looking dangerous with ball in hand, they once again found themselves in familiar territory when it came to finding that last pass!

Steve Shingler added his fourth successful penalty just before the end of the half to give a half time score of 16 points to 10.

There is a saying ‘a game of two halves’ and this certainly rang true in this game. Leinster made four changes during the interval and started the second half strongly with number 8 Murphy scoring a try within minutes. Gopperth added the conversion and for the first time, the visitors found themselves in the lead, 16-17.

As Leinster’s confidence grew, so did the Scarlets’ frustrations. Gopperth added another successful penalty to extend their lead to 16 points to 20.

Another dangerous tackle, this time on Liam ‘Sanjay’ Williams saw Leinster again down to 14 men.

The referee became the subject of much criticism from the crowd following a series of decisions that were either not made or were obviously incorrect. Unfortunately several games last season were lost on incorrect decisions and it does seem that nothing has changed.

Scarlets number 11, Phillips found himself on the receiving end of a quick throw in and crossing the white wash only to denied by the referee!

To the huge applause of the majority of the 6,329 crowd, the Scarlets were finally awarded a penalty in a kickable position. Shingler maintained his impressive kicking record with his fifth successful attempt, resulting in just a point separating the teams – 19-20.

Scott Williams again impressed with a great run downfield but it seemed the only person who saw a forward pass was the man in the middle! The ensuing scrum was played out to a rousing slow hand clap accompanied by the shout ‘Cheat, cheat!’ as the level of refereeing bordered on the farcical.

Leinster extended their lead through another Gopperth penalty, 19-23 before the Scarlets team were left napping as they watched replacement Darren Hudson cross over the try line unopposed, giving the visitors their bonus point. The added conversion brought the score line to 19-30.

The home team attempted to get back into the game but Leinster demonstrated why they are champions and with a little help from their friend the referee, proved too strong for the Scarlets.

With 8 minutes left on the clock, Outside Half, Jimmy Gopperth crossed over for
a try of his own but was unable to add the conversion. 19-35.

Leinster continued with their attack into the dying minutes of the game with number 15, Dave Kearney sealing their opening victory with a well worked try. Hero Gopperth’s successful conversion gave a final score of 19 points to 42, denying the Scarlets’ their goal of a winning start to the season.

Next Saturday sees Italian team Treviso visiting Parc y Scarlets for the next round of the Rabo Direct.