SCARLETS CONTINUE TO STRENGTHEN FOUNDATIONS WITH OPPORTUNITIES HANDED TO EMERGING TALENT

After a positive start in the first of their trio of pre-season fixtures, the Scarlets head out to France for a training week culminating in a fixture against French super club ASM Clermont Auvergne on Friday night (kick off 8pm local time).

A 32-man Scarlets squad makes the journey to Issoire based in the Auvergne region in the heart of France at the invitation and expense of the 2010 French champions for the showcase game after the Scarlets’ eye-catching style and brand of rugby in Europe last season.

Head Coach Nigel Davies said he was encouraged by the 37-25 winning performance over Rotherham Titans on Saturday afternoon with 11 new-comers handed the honour of playing in the Scarlets jersey for the first time.

Davies said: “We good off to a good start at the weekend. There were a lot of young players on the field at Parc y Scarlets on Saturday afternoon and while players are all a bit rusty in the first run out of the season – we scored some decent tries and the boys showed a lot of endeavour. The new players that have been in our environment throughout the pre-season showed they’ve hooked into Scarlets style of play and they went out and looked to perform.

“I thought we defended quite well too and it was a good test for us against a big pack of forwards – Rotherham are about as physical a team as we’ll meet all year, and it was a good match. We went through the phases better in the second half, we held onto the ball and we know we’ve got talented individual players with good skills sets and given space and time they will hurt sides.”

The Scarlets Head Coach said that the trip to France was a chance to intensify training and cement the hard work that had been undergone during pre-season preparations both on and off the field with a group of players that are in primary contention to start in the first league fixture of the season.

Davies said: “You don’t get pre-season fixtures that come much more competitive than playing Clermont on home soil just a week before they start their championship season. This is a big test for our group in terms of their physical and mental ability.

“It’s a chance for us to fine-tune our game and look at tightening our selection as we head towards the first league fixture of the season against Aironi at home.”

Davies said the focus in the Scarlets pre-season had been on building on the foundations set last season and working on developing a more focused winning mentality with consistent and sustainable progression from last season performances.

“We’re pleased with how the pre-season has gone, we have built on last season rather than making any major changes. It’s about getting better at what we did last year and we’ve focused on the detail of individual skills around the type of game we are trying to play,” said the Scarlets Head Coach.

“These pre-season games are very important for us because we have to get comfortable going to win games and building momentum from there. It’s not just about trying out new combinations but testing mental strength and developing a winning mentality. Our focus is on stepping up mental strength and consistency and there’s plenty of experience within this group of players too to help the younger boys build that confidence.

“We’ve worked hard trying to accelerate their learning and performances on the field with focused work off the field in our classroom environment – helping them prepare themselves mentally and looking at their thought processes going into games; so that they are thinking ahead and not necessarily learning just from mistakes on the field.”

And on the host of Scarlets players set to travel to the Rugby World Cup, Nigel Davies believes this can only be a good thing for the region.

“A lot’s said about losing players to the World Cup but it’s the same for all clubs and it’s no surprise. We have been planning this period for some time and we will look to manage it competently and certainly not using it as an excuse.

“Importantly, we see it as an opportunity on two levels; firstly we get the chance to strengthen our foundations true to the Scarlets style of rugby and commitment to develop Welsh talent across our playing squad. Secondly, we can all take pride in a group of young Scarlets international players who will come back to us more experienced, wiser and confident as a result of playing at the very highest levels and intensity.

“We’d also hope with some certainty that there will be a few Scarlets players, who by the end of this year will be the names on the lips of our supporters; players that, in the Scarlets way, we have spotted and handed opportunities to and had faith in them to step up to the challenge.”

Travelling to France are many of the region’s new breed that did justice to the shirt on Saturday including some great Scarlets future promise from the two young Williams’ – Wales U18 scrum-half Rhodri Williams, who looked sharp at the weekend as did his Wales U18 colleague Jordan Williams with some classy handling skills.

Both are products of the Scarlets Academy; Rhodri Williams (18) from Swansea has played for Ammanford and Llandovery and was educated at Amman Valley Grammar School playing for Scarlets at both U16 and U18 levels. Jordan Williams (17) who started at full-back for the Scarlets on Saturday, is from Llanelli beginning his career with New Dock Stars juniors before joining the Scarlets Academy.

Another Scarlets addition is 23-year-old outside half Rhys Jones, son of Wales international Kingsley Jones. Abergavenny born & bred Jones, is a Wales 7s international, contracted to the WRU and now attached to the Scarlets for the 2011/12 season. He has played throughout Wales youth at U18, U19, U20 and former clubs include Sale Sharks and Cornish Pirates returning to Newport RFC in May 2010.

Scarlets 32-man squad selection for Training Camp in France: Daniel Evans, Jordan Williams, Aled Thomas, Lee Williams, Nick Reynolds, Adam Warren, Gareth Maule, Iolo Evans, Chris Keenan, Andy Fenby, Lee Rees, Dan Newton, Rhys Jones, Rhodri Williams, Justin James, Iestyn Thomas, Phil John, Emyr Phillips, Kirby Myhill, Craig Hawkins, Rhys Thomas, Peter Edwards, Simon Gardiner, Dominic Day, Lou Reed, Rob McCusker, Aaron Shingler, Craig Price, Ben Morgan, Kieran Murphy, Johnathan Edwards, Richie Pugh.