A late call up to Scarlets’ starting XV for the big derby clash against Ospreys, at Liberty Stadium, for Michael Collins meant a less conventional approach to his gameday preparation!
Originally named as a travelling reserve, 25th man, for Scarlets’ West Wales derby on Saturday Collins was drafted in an hour and a half before kick-off with Gareth Owen suffering from illness.
Speaking after the 16-25 victory on Saturday Collins shared how he found out he’d be parachuted straight into the starting line up on the team bus; “With 25thI guess you’ve got to prepare as if you’re going to play, and I guess it’s probably easier said than done!
“My parents are over so we went up North last night (Friday) and stayed in a little fishing village – different preparation than usual but that’s part and parcel. Things happen, you’ve got to get on and deal with it!”
Collins went on to say that the victory went some way to ease the pain of losing the Boxing Day clash at Parc y Scarlets; “It’s a good feeling, especially after the disappointment and heartbreak of Boxing Day.
“These type of derby games you don’t need too much motivation, after the disappointment of Boxing Day it was always going to be a big one and one that we wanted to win. I think that’s probably why it makes today more special – if you can get more special than this!”
With the score level at 13 apiece at half time both sides had it all to play for in the second half. An interception deep inside Scarlets’ 22 from Hadleigh Parkes saw Scarlets relieve the pressure from Ospreys on their own line.
Collins went on to say: “Good old Parksey – he got chased down, I haven’t seen him get chased down before either! Ospreys had been attacking our line and to get something like that through a piece of individual brilliance I guess it goes a long way to relieving that pressure if you like.
“We knew when we sort of had that chance we could start clicking but I think we maybe left a few points out there with a couple of execution errors at the end but that’s rugby, conditions didn’t help that too much.
“It was a big confidence booster. If we can keep racking them up, keep taking every game as it comes and hopefully kick on towards the play-offs.”
Scarlets take on Cardiff Blues at Parc y Scarlets on Saturday 2nd April, kick off 3pm.
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