A victory on Saturday evening against Italian side Zebre gave Scarlets a ten point lead over seventh placed Edinburgh in the RaboDirect PRO12 table but Head Coach Simon Easterby is fully aware of the challenge ahead with three big derby games to close the current season.
An important victory against Zebre, and four points in the league standings, means that the Scarlets remain in sixth position in the RaboDirect PRO12 and move a step closer towards securing the coveted top six spot to ensure automatic entry into next season’s new European competition the Rugby Champions Cup.
Scarlets Head Coach Simon Easterby said that his side will work on the positives from the performance; “We have three derby games to come and we’ll have to be far better than we were against Zebre on Saturday.
“We are frustrated with ourselves and our performance and hopefully that will show in our reaction in the game against the Blues in Cardiff on Sunday.
“We are in a good position but we’re not playing as well as I’d like. We need to sure up our defence and take more opportunities when they come our way.”
Having headed into the dressing room four points adrift at half time against Zebre at Parc y Scarlets on Saturday evening Easterby with pleased with the way his side responded in the second half; “It was frustrating that we were turned over in the contact area in the first half which enabled them to relieve a bit of the pressure we had on them.
“The good thing for me is that we turned a deficit at half time into a good period in the first quarter of the second half. We put the ball behind them in the second half and got a little bit of reward from our kicking game. Ken’s try was a good example of how we changed our game plan and went through their defence.”
Scarlets’ trio of derbies begin this Sunday against Cardiff Blues at Millennium Stadium before back-to-back derbies at the Parc with Newport Gwent Dragons first up on Friday 2nd May before a second challenge against Cardiff Blues on Saturday 10th May in the season finale.
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