Brave, injury-savaged Scarlets mauled by the Tigers

By Helen ‘Helzbach’ Davies

In a game deemed as a ‘Semi Final’, the Scarlets continued their European Campaign with a Friday night trip to the Tigers of Leicester. Despite a huge and increasing injury count, the Welshmen were in a confident mood following their previous home win against the Tigers as they hoped to record their first away win of the season.

It was the Scarlets who started the game the stronger, demonstrating their intent as they kept the ball tight, working through the phases deep in the Tigers 22, putting the Leicester defence under pressure.

Rhys Priestland was offered the opportunity to open the scoring for the Scarlets against a team he will be playing on a more regular basis following his signing for Bath next season. A quick look and then a turn of the back from the Number 10 is all the Scarlets faithful require to know that the kick is good as the Scarlets took a 3 point to 0 lead with just 5 minutes on the clock.

However, it was the Tigers who got the first try of the evening with a well worked move seeing Wing, Benjamin, crossing the whitewash in the corner. Outside Half Freddie Burns added the conversion to give his team a 7 point to 3 lead.

Unfortunately for the Scarlets, the injury list further increased with just over 10 minutes play as Jordan Williams was helped off the pitch to be replaced by Steve Shingler to leave just one back available on the replacement bench.

Another penatly saw the Tigers in another strong attacking position as they looked to add to their try count in an attempt to secure a full house of bonus points. Using a typical English driving maul, the Scarlets had no chance of defending their lines as Number 8 Jordan Crane claimed the second try of the evening. Burns again added the extras to give Leicester a commanding 14 points to 3 lead.

Aggressive passing from the Scarlets found the visitors back in the Leicester half, finding holes in the Tigers defence. They were rewarded for their efforts with another attempt at a penalty kick and again Priestland made no mistake with his kick to bridge the gap slightly, 14 points to 6.

As the penalty count increased, the referee finally showed his first yellow card of the evening which saw the Scarlets with a man advantage deep in the Tigers 22. After securing the line out, Prop Rob Evans powered his way over for the Scarlets’ first try. Unfortunately Priestland was wide with his conversion attempt, but the visitors were back within a score – 14 points to 11 with half time approaching.

The second half started with yet more Tiger pressure for the Scarlets to sustain and it didn’t take long for the home team, through Thomstone, to cross in the corner for the third Leicester try of the evening. Burns’ conversion was wide but the Tigers were still back two scores ahead – 19 points to 11.

Minutes later the home team completed their four try task as they powered over for their bonus point with Tom Youngs claiming the plaudits. With the conversion added, the Scarlets faced a long final 25 minutes as they trailed 26 points to 11 unless they could conjure up something to keep the European aspirations alive.

However, it was another Tigers try through replacment Hooker Tom Youngs that saw those dreams shattered. Tired Scarlets bodies just couldn’t continue to compete with the barrage of the Leicester attack. Burns added the conversion to increase the Tigers’ advantage to 33 points to 11.

The determination and strength of character from the Scarlets saw them dig in deep with superb finishing as Wing Harry Robinson crossed for the second try of the evening. Shingler was unfortunately wide with the conversion, but they were able to bride the gap slightly to 33 points to 16.

Just when things couldn’t get any worse for the Scarlets, Aaron Shingler was sent to the sin bin for possibly the duration of the game resulting in the Tigers having a man advantage in another strong attacking position and it was only a matter of minutes before replacement Sam Harrison crossed to batter down the nail in the Scarlets’ European coffin. Owen Williams added the conversion, 40 points to 16, but more worryingly for the Scarlets the injury woes continued as the Scarlets struggled to continue into the final 10 minutes with a ridiculous amount of injuries.

Despite this, the Scarlets demonstrated huge strength of character and never gave up. This determination resulted in Harry Robinson again crossing for his brace of tries. Grounding the ball closer to the posts made conversion somewhat easier as the scoreline read 40 points to 23.

However, this brave performance wasn’t enough to see the visitors further their European dreams as yet another campaign ended with the Scarlets failing to make it out of the group stages.

Next Saturday, the Scarlets welcome current champions Toulon to Parc y Scarlets for the final match of the European Challenge Cup for this season in a group that was probably the toughest of all the groups. Now, the rest of the season must surely be spent concentrating on securing a place in the top 6 of the League to ensure Challenge Cup rugby once again.