Easterby praises Scarlets’ dogged defence

A determined defensive display by the Scarlets secured an all important victory and four points for the West Wales region over Connacht as the RaboDirect PRO12 kicked back into action.

Despite Connacht taking an early 6-0 lead in the first half it was the Scarlets who took the lead at half time after a debut try for winger Frazier Climo and penalty and conversion by Aled Thomas.

A further two tries by the Scarlets, for Kirby Myhill and Gareth Davies, in the second half took the visitors into the lead by 9 points to 24 but the homeside were back in it at 16-24 after an interception try.

Scarlets’ Head Coach Simon Easterby was pleased with his side’s defensive performance as Connacht made a strong case in the closing minutes as they continued to push for the points. “We’d sustained a fair bit of pressure in the first half and only conceded nine points. We took control of the game in the second half and were comfortable in the game with twenty minutes to go.

“We gave away a soft try that allowed Connacht to get back into the game. They got their tails up after that and they’re a difficult team to hold on to once they get a bit of momentum going.”

A lengthy period of extra time saw the Scarlets sustain wave after wave of pressure from Connacht showing the side’ defensive strength to the bitter end – despite playing 30 minutes of the game with only 14 men.

Easterby continued: “I thought the team looked good on the whole. With six or seven extra minutes played at the end we certainly had a workout in defence.

“Our goal in coming here was to get four points and at 9-24 we were probably disappointed that we didn’t get the bonus point. Having said that it’s important that we got the win and that was down to a lot of good work during the game and some dogged defence.”

With a number of players absent through international duty the Scarlets will be pleased with the victory ahead of next week’s challenge against Irish heavy-weights Leinster.

“I thought the players that came here stood up and were outstanding. We’re missing a number of players and seeing three yellow cards puts pressure on the team – it’s much harder when you’re working 14 against 15 for large parts of the game.

“Despite that I have nothing but praise for the result. We can always improve on performance but the win was important and taking four points after the break in the league was vital.”

The Scarlets will re-group on Monday ahead of the third of four clashes on the road against Leinster before taking on ASM Clermont Auvergne in the first of the Heineken Cup double headers in December.