Scarlets 7s captain Kristian Phillips, who represented Wales 7s in the Commonwealth Games four years ago, scored the ninth and final try in Scarlets’ recordbreaking victory at the Premiership Rugby at BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park on Saturday evening.
The Scarlets took on fellow regions Cardiff Blues, Newport Gwent Dragons and Ospreys in the first ever Welsh leg of Premiership Rugby 7s and despite not making it through to the final round, to be held at Twickenham Stoop, the Scarlets did close the evening in style scoring nine tries and securing a new record – the highest final score in Premiership Rugby 7s history.
Scarlets 7s captain Kristian Phillips crossed the whitewash for the regions final try in that recordbreaking win and says it was a huge honour to lead the young side in the exciting competition; “I’m really privileged to have captained the side. Unfortunately I couldn’t be a successful captain on this occasion in terms of going through to the final but it was an absolute honour.
“It was brilliant to be a part of the evening. There was a really good crowd and a good atmosphere.
“Qualifying through to the final wasn’t meant to be but we got better and better with every game. We gave it everything we had and it was nice to see everything click together in the final game, we got to play some real 7s! The win in that sense was a nice consolation.”
Scarlets’ new summer signings Michael Tagicakibau and Rory Pitman made their regional debuts at BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park and a number of the region’s bright young things had the opportunity to stake a claim for the jersey come the new season.
Looking ahead to the forthcoming season Phillips added; “We’re targeting the top four in the PRO12 this season, it’s always the target but especially so this year as we were all disappointed at the end of last season that we didn’t make the top four.
“We’ve recruited well and we now have a little more strength in depth. The new guys have brought with them a lot of positivity, a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of experience.
“I’m looking forward to kicking on for the Scarlets and hopefully getting in to the team every week.”
Scarlets will kick-off their GUINNESS PRO12 campaign at Parc y Scarlets against 2013-14 semi finalists Ulster on the opening weekend after pre season friendlies against Bath Rugby and Gloucester Rugby.
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