SCARLETS SECURE SECOND LEAGUE VICTORY

By Helen ‘Helzbach’ Davies

Following an indifferent season, not only is rugby back in Parc y Scarlets, but also one of Llanelli’s favourites…Stephen Jones! With a few players departed and a few new faces among the ranks, the start of the new season is always filled with hope.

As the start of the much-anticipated World Cup moves ever closer, this season will be one where the stars of the future are expected to step up to the mark and they certainly did that last week in the opening round of the Guinness Pro 12 away against Glasgow.

Despite securing a strong lead in the fixture, the ending was almost one that has never been seen before and will never be seen again. Following 3 yellow cards, and an injury the Scarlets finished the game with just 11 players on the pitch, defending for their victory as the referee saw fit to restart play despite there being no time left on the clock and it was possibly only down to the handling error of the home team that the men in red managed to hold on to their 16-10 lead.

With the sun shining, the men in Scarlet ran out for their first home game of the season, demonstrating their intent from the start as they kept ball in hand, despite not making many hard yards. They were however, awarded for their efforts with a penalty attempt after just 2 minutes play.

Up and coming Dan Jones slotted over his kick to give his side an early 3 point to 0 advantage.

Despite some attacking rugby from the visitors, the Scarlets kept control for the most part of the opening quarter and kept play in the Ulster half for long periods.

Excellent hands and handling from the backs saw the home team inches from the try line, however Ulster were initially given time to rearrange their defence. However, the missed pass to the Wing saw the Scarlets squeeze over in the corner, though the try was disallowed due to his foot being in touch.

The Scarlets were able to extend their lead soon after as Dan Jones continued with his 100% kicking record and kicked his second penalty to give a 6 point to 0 lead.

He repeated this feat a matter of minutes later to further increase the lead to 9 points to 0.

It took almost half an hour of play before the Scarlets had to do any real defending as the visitors took advantage of a penalty decision to kick deep into the Scarlets’ 22, however a dropped ball saw the home team awarded a scrum and an opportunity to relieve the pressure.

Despite losing their shape a little as the half came to an end, several handling errors from Ulster made life a lot easier for the Scarlets.

The Irish referee however, decided to make things a little bit easier for the visitors, sending Pete Edwards to the bin for…….tacking! Possibly, poetic justice is served as Ulster’s easy penalty attempt, right in front of the posts sails wide and the half ends with the Scarlets holding on to their 9 point advantage.

It took only a couple of minutes of the second half before the Scarlets had an opportunity to further extend their lead, however on this occasion Dan Jones saw his kick sail wide.

Parc y Scarlets erupted seconds later though as another missed pass (that could easily have resulted in an interception) saw Hadleigh Parkes power over the white wash for the first try of the game. Dan Jones made no mistake in his conversion attempt to give the Scarlets a 16 points to 0 lead.

The cheering soon turned to thunderous booing as a blatant tackle without the ball was totally ignored by the referee, despite it being a yellow card offence.

The confidence in the Scarlets passing game was evident as they continued to battle their way towards the try line despite the referee and despite an off-side Ulster attempting to block their path.

The madness continued with Ulster crossing for the try only to be brought back for a scrum! It got worse as a try saving tackle by James Davies saw Rory Scholes clearly in touch before he grounded the ball…..however, referee Andrew Brace decided to award the try to the disbelief of the Scarlets faithful and the amusement of the Ulster travelling support who said themselves that is was never a try.

With the touchline conversion missed, the visitors were finally on the score board – 16 points to 5.

Another penalty from Dan Jones further increased the Scarlets’ advantage to 19 points to 5.

A series of bizarre decisions, along with some strange defending decisions from the Scarlets saw the visitors being awarded with a penalty try to see them back in the game – 19 points to 12.

The third yellow card of the game resulted in Ulster playing for a whole half hour with a man advantage as the home team seem to be starting a trend of 3 per game. Coach Wayne Pivac stated that often towards the end of the training week, with players not selected for the weekend being sent to the Semi pro sides, training often involves playing as a team of 14 or 13, however this seems to be the start of a worrying trend.

Despite a rejuvenated performance from Ulster in the second half, the Scarlets were awarded a penalty in the dying minutes of the half to secure not only the victory, but also deny Ulster of their losing bonus point.

Returning replacement Outside Half Aled Thomas’ last kick of the game saw the Scarlets secure a 22 to point to 12 win.

Due to the World Cup, the next game is away against Zebre on October 4^th.