TIGER TAMING TASK TOO TOUGH FOR BRAVE YOUNG SCARLETS

TIGER TAMING TASK TOO TOUGH FOR BRAVE YOUNG SCARLETS

By Helen ‘Helzbach’ Davies

 

 

 

It was a European Cup record-breaking crowd of 12,392 that braved the wind and rain to descend on Parc y Scarlets to hopefully watch the Welsh region become the second team to book a place in the Quarter Final stages of this year’s Heineken European Cup, but alas, it was not to be. The Scarlets still have an outside chance to continue in the tournament, but will need another huge bonus-point away win next week out in Perpignan in order to have a chance of qualification. However, they will also be relying on results elsewhere to determine their European fate; otherwise, it will be a case of next year….

It was a game that had reached the imagination of the fans, and was not just about getting through to the knock-out stages, but this was Wales versus England.

Unfortunately, the Scarlets suffered a blow even before the whistle had been blown with the news that mercurial Centre, Regan King, had suffered a calf strain during the Captain’s Run on Friday, leaving him sidelined for between 2 and 6 weeks.

Parc y Scarlets had an air of anticipation and the sounds of ‘Hymns and Arias’ filled the stands as the Tigers ran out to a thunderous boo, which was a stark contrast to the unified chanting of ‘Scarlets, Scarlets’ that welcomed the home team as they ran out, literally in a blaze of glory!

Nigel Davies couldn’t have asked for a better start from his men as Rhys Priestland’s opening kick was left to roll into touch, and the Scarlets secured the Tigers’ subsequent line-out, to the delight of the crowd.

The Scarlets immediately went on the attack, but unfortunately the Tigers were able to suck up the Scarlets pressure and clear their lines to half way.

Rhys Priestland’s superb touch finder was taken quickly by Leicester and unfortunately Stephen Jones misjudged the strong wind to offer the Tigers a line out back in the Scarlets’ half.

The Tigers’ attack looked dangerous but Josh Turnbull, who had a superb game, managed to steal the ball and relieve the pressure on the home team.

The Leicester team continued their attack in a typical boring, English manner, as their rolling maul attempted to inch into the Scarlets’ half, securing themselves a penalty in a process, which they opted to kick for touch.

Unfortunately, Toby Flood was offered an easy chance to open the scoring after the Scarlets were penalised following a scrum for a knock on, giving his team a lead of 3 points to 0 after 10 minutes play.

The Scarlets countered the points with an attack of their own, keeping the ball tight among the forwards, working through the phases before being sent back downfield.

The Tigers were given an opportunity to double their points, much to the disgust of the crowd, when Alesana Tuilagi was adjudged by referee Alain Rolland to have been taken out by Rhys Priestland. Once again the boos rang out and could probably have been heard over in Jack Land as the Scarlet faithful felt that Tuilagi ran into Priestland, and played for the penalty. Flood was successful with the kick to bring the score to 6 points to 0.

Yet again the home team fought back positively, with some good attacking rugby, working through the phases only for the ball to be turned over by the Tigers.

The Scarlets scored the first try of the evening, following a superb break from Jonathan Davies, who is surely top of the list on Warren Gatland’s Welsh Squad List this week, timing his pass to Morgan Stoddart perfectly, who crossed in the corner to the huge roar of delight from the home supporters. This was typical Scarlets magic, running the ball from any field position and with Stephen Jones adding the conversion from the touch line the Scarlets took the lead for the first time, 7 points to 6.

The roar of applause for the try was soon echoed with the Scarlets securing a penalty from the Tigers’ scrum, but unfortunately, Priestland seemed to rewarding his forwards for their excellent effort in the scrum by giving them distance rather than safety and disappointingly, rather than a good attacking position, play was brought back to a scrum on half way, offering the visitors a chance to play some attacking rugby of their own.

The Scarlets defence held firm as the Tigers attempted to inch forward until the men in red secured the ball, with Matthew Rees’ kick being chased by Tavis Knoyle as ‘Sospan Fach’ drowned out any support from the away travellers.

Another break upfield by Jon Davies again raised the volume around the Parc, and he did well to keep the ball in play.

Gareth Maule did cross the try line, however referee Rolland’s outstretched arm did not signify a second Scarlets’ try, but a Leicester penalty as he decided that Maule had double-moved his way over the line, to the disappointment of the crowd who had already began celebrating after seeing the word ‘CAIS’ flashed in scarlet on the electronic score board.

Stephen Jones increased the Scarlets’ lead just after the half hour mark, after the Tigers were penalised for coming in from the side, with Mr ‘Reliable’ Jones bringing the score to 10 points to 6.

The Tigers gave away another penalty minutes later with Rhys Priestland this time making no mistake of finding touch to offer the Scarlets a good attacking line-out. Unfortunately, the line-out was one of the set pieces in which the home team struggled this week as the Tigers stole yet another ball.

The Scarlets attack continued, using width to try and find holes in the Tigers’ defensive line. Young Scarlet prop Simon Gardiner was close to scoring a try in the final minutes of the first half, with a good run upfield following more attacking rugby from the men in Scarlet, but with Morgan Stoddart in support, he was unable to get his pass away, to the fury of Stoddart who was eager to score his second try.

Disappointingly Stephen Jones was unable to add to the Scarlets’ score with his penalty attempt sailing just wide of the posts with the last kick of the half, but with the strong wind behind them, the Scarlets went into half time with a slim lead over their visitors and the only try of the game.

The Tigers ran out for the second half to another thunderous booing, but this time it was the visitors who started off the stronger. Flood kicked a penalty in the first couple of minutes to bring the score to 10 points to 9.

The Scarlets secured a penalty of their own following a dangerous tackle on Morgan Stoddart by replacement Steve Mafi, who was fortunate not to have been shown a yellow card. This time Priestland made no mistake in finding both distance and touch with his kick.

The Scarlets continued their attack, but found themselves inside the Leicester 22, with the Tigers in possession. However, the Tigers were penalised offering Stephen Jones the opportunity to increase the Scarlets’ lead, which he did, bringing the score to 13 points to 9.

Again the Scarlets faithful were incensed by the referee’s penalty decision as Toby Flood missed his first kick of the evening with 50 minutes on the clock, failing to make any difference to the score line and Nigel Davies decided it was time to bring on some fresh legs with Jonny F and Phil John replacing Gardiner and veteran Vernon.

Unfortunately, the game seemed to slip away from the Scarlets a little following these substitutions, however Nigel stated in the post match press conference that both players had given all they had to give during the match and he felt he had no option in making the decision to replace them.

Despite a try saving tackle from Priestland, it wasn’t enough to halt Alesana Tuilagi from crossing the Scarlets’ try line to enable the Englishmen to regain the lead, 14 points to 13, even though Flood once again was unable to add the extras.

The Scarlets managed to get their hands back on the ball following the restart but that try seemed to have given Tigers the boost they needed to become more clinical and to demonstrate their experience. However, the home team continued to attempt to release their dangerous backs and showed commitment and determination as they tried to regain their hard fought lead.

The Tigers continued on their forward driven game, zapping the energy of the young Scarlets as they inched their way over the gain line.

Despite the protests of both the players and the crowd, Leicester raced over for their second try at the start of the last quarter of the match, scored by man of the match, Scrum Half, Ben Youngs.

It was the common consensus that the ball was picked up whilst the player was off his feet and therefore should have been a penalty for the home team as the ruck had been formed, and on watching the action again, rightly so.

The crowd were further incensed by the try scorer’s reaction following the scoring of the try, when he tried to silence the boos by putting his finger to his lips and telling them to shh! He later admitted that he felt an idiot for doing this!

Referee Rolland chose to ignore the protests of the players, and checked only the grounding of the ball with the TMO…if only he’d have asked for play to be checked a little further back.

Disappointingly, games are often won or lost on one moment and this wrong decision resulted in the task being too great for the Scarlets who had given their all. It also added to Leicester’s momentum and it was probable that the game hinged on that one decision.

Possibly justice was served slightly with Toby Flood again missing the conversion, but the Tigers had now a 6 point advantage, 13 points to 19.

Even with the game slipping away from them, the Scarlets kept their discipline in this high-tempo game, attempting to run the ball from all over the Parc, going through the phases and off-loading well, unfortunately, this play was often played in their own half.

Flood added another penalty with 13 or so minutes left of the game, after the Scarlets were penalised for an offence in the scrum, bringing the score to 13 points to 22, and leaving the Scarlets needing to score twice to take the lead.

To the frustration of the Scarlets, Flood added another penalty soon after to bring the score to 13 points to 25.

The proud home team continued to throw everything into somehow getting something from this game, even a losing bonus point, and continued to attempt the brand of rugby for which they are famous.

With five minutes left, the Scarlets were awarded a penalty and Thomas Waldron was yellow-carded after referee Rolland lost patience with the chopsing of the Tigers!!!!

Suddenly, despite the 8 point gap in the score line, Parc y Scarlets came alive once more, with the hope and expectation that the Scarlets could take full advantage of their extra man.

Unfortunately the Scarlets were penalised for off-side not long after, despite the Tigers looking off-side during most of the game. This offered the visitors another dangerous attacking field position, and once again the home crowd were ‘treated’ to the unfamiliar forward play that the Tigers are famous for.

Despite heroic defence from the Scarlets, the Leicester forwards continued their drive forward, with replacement Steve Mafi finally crossing the line. Toby Flood added the conversion to bring the score to 13 points to 32.

With thoughts of a bonus point in the minds of the Leicester team, it was the Scarlets who completed the scoring, showing heart and commitment to fight to the bitter end.

Following a Tigers’ knock on, Scarlets kept ball in hand and secured a quickly-taken penalty. With patience and determination, they kept the ball in hand, patiently building the phases until birthday boy Sean Lamont gathered Stephen Jones’ cross-field kick and finished off the move by scoring a try. Jones was unsuccessful with the conversion, to give a final score of 18 points to 32.

This score line was definitely not a true reflection of the game, with the Scarlets matching the Tigers for the first half and some of the second half, but in the end the physicality and experience of the Leicester team brought them through for the victory. This was a very, very good game of rugby, with BOTH teams playing their part.

Nigel Davies stated how proud he was of his team in his post-match interview, stating that the Tigers had not allowed the Scarlets to control the ball in the second half like they had in the first. He added that the line out was disappointing and the scrum on occasions, but it is the half chances that were missed, particularly in the first half that makes the difference between winning and losing games like this.

Josh Turnbull was singled out for praise from his coach, who described his performance as ‘outstanding’; particularly with Welsh coach Warren Gatland in attendance prior to announcing his Six Nations Squad this week.

Leicester’s Richard Cockerill also paid tribute to the home team, stating the Tigers were put under pressure in all areas. He felt it was the fiercest competition they had come up against and t
hat his players had never played against such an intense Scarlets team.

He also praised Parc y Scarlets for it’s fantastic facilities, adding that the playing surface was ‘fabulous’.

We now have a very strong squad, even if it isn’t filled with the big names that other teams have, but what this squad needs

now is experience of playing at this level, and by playing in games like this, they can only gain that experience and get better.
Matthew Rees as captain, had brought heart to the team, and gone are the days of putting in a brave performance, now, winning is all-important. The team has a new found confidence and are trying hard to make Parc y Scarlets a fortress that other teams will not relish visiting, and with only 2 home defeats this season, they are on their way to fulfilling their target.

 

Despite the disappointment of losing a game that the players and fans alike really felt they could win, the team will be given 2 days off before preparations begin for next week’s final European qualifying match against Perpingnan.

At home, the Scarlets secured a bonus point win against the French, but it is a totally different story on their home soil, in spite of the Scarlets having the best away record in France of all the Welsh regions. Head to head, the Scarlets have won 2 and lost 3 against Perpignan.

With the Ospreys, who were the only other region with any hopes of advancing through to the knock-out stages of this year’s European Tournament losing today, the Scarlets are now the ONLY Welsh region with any hopes of qualification, giving next week’s match even more importance as the men in Scarlet once again fly the Welsh flag in Europe.

The match takes place at the Stade Aimé Giral next Sunday; kick off 2.00pm, local time.