SUPER SCARLETS SAY AU REVOIUR TO KING REGGIE WITH BONUS POINT BLUES WIN

By Helen ‘Helzbach’ Davies

 

It was with some sadness that the crowd of 11,200 made their way to Parc y Scarlets for not only the final home game of the season, but the final appearance in a Scarlets shirt for some of the players, one of those being the majestic Regan King, who was given the honour of leading the team out to a standing ovation. He will be sadly missed by the Scarlets faithful for his superb handling skills and adding that something extra to the team.

 

This was another all-to-play for match, with the Blues securing a play-off place if they were to win, but the Scarlets also had a slim chance, depending on other results (Aironi beating the Ospreys in Italy!)

‘The King’ attempted a typical break early on in the match, but unusually had the ball knocked out of his grasp. However, the home team continued to pile the pressure on the visitors, using the forwards to work through the phases.

Prop Iestyn Thomas was unlucky not to score a try in the corner as he stormed along the touch line, unfortunately his knees just hitting touch before the ball was touched down.

Following a mix up at the line out, the Scarlets were offered another chance at attack which resulted in Stephen Jones getting the first points of the match with a well kicked penalty to give a score of 3 points to 0.

The Scarlets continued their attack from the restart, with Scrum Half, Tavis Knoyle storming upfield. However, referee Nigel Owens decided against awarding a penalty for a shoulder charge on Stephen Jones, offering words of wisdom instead, despite protests from the crowd and it was Dan Parks that put his side on the board soon after with a successful penalty to bring the score to 3 points all.

Fortunately, the Blues did not take advantage of their first real attacking position, with the long line-out being caught by Johnathan Edwards at the back of the line, and play was soon back in the Blues half.

Following yet another tackle on Stephen Jones, this time late, the Scarlets were offered a chance to take the lead once again with Mr Reliable making no mistake as his kick sailed through the posts to bring the score to 6 points to 3.

Stevo then kicked his team to an excellent field position, which was boosted by referee Owens, who awarded the Scarlets a free kick for the Blues’ time wasting in the line out, to the delight of the crowd!!

Once again Stephen Jones was the victim of yet another tackle that left him floored and seemingly targeted. This saw the Blues reduced to 14 men for a late and high tackle.

Captain Matthew Rees decided to use the man advantage to drive over for a great try from Iestyn Thomas. Despite possible concussion following his knock, Stephen Jones made no mistake in adding the extras to give the Scarlets a 13 points to 3 lead.

Unfortunately, Tavis Knoyle was slightly off target with his touch finder which saw play brought back into the Scarlets half, but he was able to ease the pressure with a second chance at a touch finder.

The Blues hit back almost immediately though with a move that saw George North miss his man as Chris Czekaj crossed the white wash. Dan Parks was again successful with his kick to add the conversion, bringing the score to 13 points to 10.

A storming run from Johnathan Edwards woke the crowd up once more, but unfortunately Ben Morgan was unable to gather the pass.

The Scarlets once again showed their dominance in a scrum that saw the Blues front row struggling to cope with the pressure of the Scarlets forwards.

Again, the Scarlets demonstrated their intention with some good running and strings of passing being put together, but unfortunately, the home team were just one pass away from scoring a try – something that’s been the story of the season it seems.

A very harsh decision from Nigel Owens saw Rob McCusker penalised for no apparent reason and Dan Parks made no mistake in kicking another penalty to bring the scores level once again at 13 points all.

A sterling tackle from Sean Lamont from the restart saw the Scarlets again having good attacking field position, with Ben Morgan eventually diving over under the posts. Stephen Jones slotted over the simple conversion to bring the score to 20 points to 13.

Once again though, the Blues fought back straight away with the Scarlets defence allowing Dafydd Hewitt to cross the whitewash. This was to the annoyance of the crowd who felt that Hewitt had been held in the tackle….though seemingly the only person who disagreed with this was Nigel Owens. Dan Parks was successful in his easy conversion in front of the posts to once again level the game at 20 points all.

With some excellent running from the Scarlets, the players worked hard to play the ball upfield and were so close to scoring another try with Iestyn Thomas just unable to gather the pass, to the groan of the crowd.

Another off the ball tackle on Stephen Jones saw him leave the pitch early, replaced by Rhys Priestland, to the disappointment of the crowd who felt that the Blues had deliberately targeted the Scarlets’ key player in their quest for a victory.

A crooked feed in the scrum from the Blues offered the Scarlets the chance to end the half with a try, but unfortunately the ball was lost as the Blues made their way back upfield.

Better Scarlets defence saw them playing most of the rugby in their own half until George North was forced to save the day for the Scarlets.

Just on half time, the Blues were offered a chance to take the lead for the first time, with Dan Parks missing his attempt at a drop goal.

The half time score was truly not a reflection of the rugby that had been played, with the Scarlets playing the majority of the rugby and creating all the chances.

To the di
sappointment of the crowd, Dan Parks was successful with a drop goal attempt at the start of the second half that saw the Blues take the lead for the first time, 20 points to 23.

However, they were soon buoyed by a great run from George North that saw him almost break through the Cardiff defence. With ball in possession, the Scarlets again attempted to attack the Blues line, but a very rare forward pass from Regan King, saw the endeavours come to nothing.

Silence descended on Parc y Scarlets as Blues player Zavier Rush was stretchered off to the applause of both sets of supporters, following his tackle on Rhys Thomas, and  it was the Blues’ turn to work through the phases. Fortunately, they were unable to increase their lead as Dan Parks missed his penalty attempt.

A good turn-over from the Scarlets saw them snatch possession from the Blues as ‘Sosban Fach’ rang through the stadium and the home team were offered a scrum.

Side-stepping from George North led to further groans as he lost the ball, but the groans soon turned to cheers as Sean Lamont carried the ball upfield.

Rhys Priestland successfully landed his first penalty of the evening to bring the game back level at 23 points each but unfortunately, the home team failed to gather the re-start and were lucky that the ball went forward from a Blues hand to offer the men in Scarlet a scrum.

A scintillating run from Centre Scott Williams brought Parc y Scarlets to life once again, but Richie Pugh was extremely unfortunate to be penalised, as the usual boos from the crowd for Nigel Owens ran through the stadium like thunder.

Another line out disaster from the Blues saw the Scarlets back on the attack, with the crowd surely acting an extra man, many of whom knew that with the Ospreys losing, the chances of reaching the play-offs were suddenly not as unlikely as they were prior to kick-off.

Giving it their all, almost each member of the team became involved in the attack before Sean Lamont crossed for a try in the corner. As an added bonus, Martyn Williams was yellow-carded, leaving the Scarlets with a man advantage for the next 10 minutes.

Unfortunately, Rhys Priestland seemed to be confusing the corner flag for the posts and was unable to add the conversion.

With added confidence, and a bonus point in sight with just one more try, the Scarlets again went on the attack as ‘Yma o Hyd’ filled the air around Llanelli.

Suddenly, the atmosphere reached fever pitch, with talks of play-offs becoming an almost reality rather than just a dream.

An attacking opportunity from the Blues ended with a knock on, giving the Scarlets the advantage at the scrum. Ben Morgan again bolted upfield like a missile and the Scarlets were awarded with a penalty.

Rhys Priestland’s successful kick, off the saucepan, saw the Blues’ bonus point snatched from them and it was a shame that it wasn’t the final kick of the game because as things stood, with the Ospreys losing, the Scarlets would have sneaked their way into the play-offs!

Another bombarding run from Scott Williams saw the Scarlets once more drive the team into opposition 22 as Sean Lamont crossed over for the bonus point try!

Rhys Priestland’s successful kick brought the score to 38 points to 23, just as the Ospreys sneaked in front of Aironi.

Again, the sound of Sosban Fach surrounded the stadium and suddenly the pain of games that had been snatched from the men in Scarlets suddenly began to hurt more than they had done at the time.

The Blues attempted an attack to try and rescue their own season, but it seemed as though the team had washed their hands in butter at half time as yet another knock on saw the Scarlets awarded another scrum.

Disappointingly, all the hard work that the Scarlets had put in would consequently mean that it would be the Ospreys, who had managed to secure a victory in Italy, had booked their place in the play-offs, (despite how undeserved it is).

The Blues continued to attempt an attack and made use of the huge gap in the Scarlets defence, with several Scarlets players injured, but were still unable to cross for a consolation try.

Despite a bonus point win over the Blues, and doing ‘the double’ on the capital’s team, there was a slight bitter sweetness to the victory. However, it was a performance that demonstrated the development of the team this season and just what the supporters have to look forward to next season as this squad, growing in confidence, can only get better.

Sadly, Regan King left his final game with a hamstring injury, but returned for a lap of honour at the end of an excellent game of rugby to say a final farewell to the loyal fans that have taken him to their hearts and wish him all the best in his new challenge in Clermont.