SCARLETS HANG ON TO GO BACK TO THE TOP

By Helen ‘Helzbach’ Davies

Following a festive period that didn’t exactly go to plan with narrow defeats against both the Ospreys and the Blues, the losing bonus points earned mean that a win from this afternoon’s game against Connacht and the Scarlets go back to the top of the league once more. It would also be a huge boost prior to the final group stage period in this year’s Champions’ Cup. Next weekend the Scarlets travel to Paris to face Racing 92 before welcoming Northampton Saints to Parc y Scarlets on January 23rd. Despite being unable to manage a win so far in this year’s tournament, the Scarlets have put in good performances apart, possibly from the away fixture in Glasgow and hopefully will be able to end the campaign with a confidence-boosting couple of wins.

A strong start from the Scarlets saw some good attacking rugby being played with free-flowing passing like the Scarlets of old. However, despite the dry conditions the huge amount of rain over the last few weeks resulted in handling errors creeping in at crucial times in the attack.

A shoulder charge on Regan King saw Bundee Aki sent to the sin bin for 10 minutes and the Scarlets choosing to kick for the corner with the hope of taking full advantage of their extra man for the opening points of the game. However, it was Connacht that were the first to cross the line, though despite several showings on the big screen, the referee decided, rather harshly, that the ball had gone forward as the player seemed to attempt to pick the ball up rather than just ground it.

Back up to 15 men, the visitors saw themselves with a line-out deep in the Scarlets 22 and opted for the cross-field kick, which didn’t go exactly to plan, but despite the chance of a possible Scarlets interception, the referee went back to the original line-out after playing a considerable amount of advantage. Disappointingly the Scarlets were penalized for right in front of the posts and Regan King was yellow carded for a professional foul. Craig Ronaldson slotted over the easy penalty to give Connacht a 3 points to 0 lead.

The first try of the afternoon came from yet another Scarlets handling error that saw speedster Wing Matt Healy run from deep inside his own 22 to cross unopposed. Ronaldson added the conversion to increase his side’s lead to 10 points to 0.

It took almost a whole half of rugby before the Scarlets were finally offered their first points of the game. Aled Thomas’ finally put his team on the board, 3 points to 10, but Connacht were obviously intent on fighting back immediately, and it took a try saving tackle from Hadleigh Parkes along with Healy losing the ball before applying downward pressure or he would have been awarded his brace of tries. The visitors did maintain the pressure until deep into injury time of the first half and the relief was evident when the Scarlets finally managed to get the ball off the park to end the first half 3 points to 10.
The Scarlets managed to secure the first points of the second half with Connacht penalized for pulling down in the line-out. Aled Thomas made no mistake as his consistency in kicking continued and the gap was narrowed to 6 points to 10.

The half-time talk from Coach Pivac must have been rather interesting as the Scarlets looked a different team during the start of the second half, rewarded for their efforts with Steffan Evans squeezing over in the corner to give the men in red the lead for the first time. Thomas again added the tricky conversion to bring the score line to 13 points to 10.

However, a silly penalty from the Scarlets drew the game level at 13 points all as Ronaldson slotted over his easy attempt from right in front of the posts.

The Scarlets were very fortunate that Connacht weren’t gifted their second try as Aled Thomas’ clearing kick was charged down, but luckily DTH was on hand to ground the ball.

A superb run from Full Back Michael Collins saw him cross the white wash to put the Scarlets back in the lead. Unfortunately, Thomas’ kick sailed just wide of the posts but the home team were in the lead by 18 points to 13.

A penalty from Connacht Outside Half Jack Carty put his team back within two points, 18 points to 16 as the game neared the final 10 minutes, which made for an exciting ending to another close game.
As the heavy rain made conditions awful, the referee controversially played a considerable amount of advantage for off-side and rather than the Scarlets securing a scrum, they were faced with Connacht kicking to put them into the lead again by just a point – 18 – 19.

Connacht ended the game with 14 men as replacement Ronan Loughney was sin binned for a tip tackle, but more importantly, silence fell on Parc y Scarlets as Steve Shingler held his nerve to kick what could possibly be the match winning kick – something he has done on more than one occasion this season. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the final kick of the game, but the Scarlets, accompanied by the entire stadium chanting ‘Scarlets’ managed to hold on and secure a well-earned victory – 21 points to 19 to go back to the top of the Guinness Pro 12. The reaction from the crowd and players at the end of the game showed just how much this victory meant as it was as though the team had won the Grand Slam!!