Glasgow Up Next For Champions Cup Semi Finalists

It wasn’t the great game of running rugby that was predicted before the whistle, but it certainly proved that the Scarlets bring more to their game than attacking flair, as they marched through to the Semi Finals of the Champions’ Cup. “It was a great occasion,” said Wayne Pivac. “Great for the region, great to see so many fans there enjoying themselves, but the big thing for us now is to re-focus, to park that European Competition and focus on the Guinness Pro14.”
The Scarlets remain in second spot in the League, three points behind leaders Leinster, with Edinburgh just two points behind in third position. This makes for an exciting ‘business end’ to the season as the Scarlets aim to defend their crown and do well in both competitions.
After allowing the boys to celebrate over the weekend, training has now begun ready for the visit of Glasgow. “Our focus now is Glasgow coming to town who are a very,very good side,” said Pivac.
“Dave Rennie is a very, very good coach – I know Dave well . They play an attractive brand of rugby, they are absolutely flying in their conference and they’ll be a huge threat.”
Being out of Europe can also benefit Glasgow and Edinburgh, as it did the Scarlets last year.
“Leinster and ourselves have got to juggle the two, but you would expect Leinster to win against the two Italian sides,” he continued. “We would expect them to come first and we’re in a dog fight for second and third. Our preference would be to play at home where we have a very good record, otherwise you’re looking at an away trip to Munster or the Cheetahs – we don’t want that if we can help it!”
Whilst the challenge is on for the players to reach expectations, it is the coaches that face the big challenge of managing the players. A top two spot has been the aim from day one, but even a top three spot is still not guaranteed, so every match is basically knock-out rugby now.
“There’s a number of ways of looking at it,” revealed Pivac. “Do we rotate and rest some players knowing there’s a massive Semi Final coming up? Are we guaranteed top three? There’s still some results got to go our way!”
“From our perspective, we could also look at what we do during the training week because the game day is one day of seven,” he continued. “It’s what we do in the others is vital to freshen players up and get them ready to go at this time of year.”
“We like to think the structures we have put in place, the way we want to play the game, everyone understands their roles,” he added. “So do we need to train as long? As often? Those are questions we’ve asked ourselves and decisions we have to make.”
Outside Half, Rhys Patchell added, “It’s a bit of a juggling act in terms of keeping boys fresh while also giving them enough time on the field. We are heading in the right direction and when those knock-out games come around, if we are somewhere near our A game we will be going alright. I don’t think we’re a million miles away from it at the moment!”
Despite the Pro14 taking centre stage for the next couple of weeks, Leinster being confirmed as the Semi Final opponents has caused controversy in the rugby world due to the announcement that the ‘neutral’ fixture would also be held in the ‘home’ venue – the Aviva Stadium. Sky pundit, Stuart Barnes commenting that the ‘farcical’ decision was ‘outside the spirit of the competition.’
“Look, we’d play them in the car park if that’s where we had to play,” joked Pivac.
“Technically it’s not their home ground is it, it’s about half a mile away and they’ve played there about four times this year and I guess their internationals have played there about 10 times this season, so it’s not their home ground….but it’s not far off!”
“We’re in a Semi Final and just so happy to be there,” he continued. “We’re proud of the achievements of the group, proud of the community for getting behind the team as they have and we know we’ll have some good numbers travelling regardless of where we play.”
“We know that game is still three weeks away, but there’s work to be done before then,” he added. “But when that comes around it will be a massive occasion, a massive challenge against a very, very good Leinster side, a quality side.”
On the injury front, the back three woes looks set to continue with Paul Asquith being added to the list. The Wing hobbled off in the early stages of the La Rochelle game with early indications showing that he has possibly ruptured his hamstring. A scan will determine the full extent of the injury, but he is likely to be out for some time.
The good news is that Steff Evans is fit. He took an accidental elbow to the eye in the process of making a tackle. His eye closed up and the decision to replace him was made due to vision issues. As it is not a head injury, he has no HIA protocols to follow, though he will undergo a scan just to ensure that there is no structural damage.
Wyn Jones is to undergo another scan shortly on what was initially a 10 week injury, however he is going really well in his rehab.
Jake Ball’s had a week off from his rehab, with Pivac revealing that the Second Rower is in ‘fantastic shape.’ The surgery side has gone well, but a weakness in one area of the shoulder means that has to be at a certain strength before he is safe to play. “Jake’s targeting the semi final and we’d love him to be there,” revealed Pivac. “But, he has to be cleared medically.”
With the announcement that Dragons’ Prop, Phil Price has been rewarded for his efforts with a permanent contract after initially extending his loan period to the end of the season, Pivac said “We’ve been impressed with Phil since he joined us, he’s fitted in well to the squad and grabbed the opportunity with both hands.”
Price added, “I’ve had a great welcome and the boys have been great. There’s a very exciting few months and years ahead and I hope I get an opportunity to play my part.”
With news of both new signings and re-signings from within the squad being announced in the coming weeks, it seems almost certain that George North will not be one of those putting pen to paper to join the Champions.
“What I will say, we will announce a new signing very shortly,” revealed Pivac. “We have signed a back-three player and we will only be signing one.”
“We have not been informed of where George is going by anybody, I think everybody is still waiting,” he continued. “But you can only wait so long and we have signed a player in the back three.”
There are strong rumour that this players is the South African Full Back, Clayton Bloometijies from the Cheetahs, but this has yet to be formally announced, however Pivac insisted that the Scarlets would always be within the rules with regards to the number of overseas players that are allowed in the squad.
Meanwhile, any rumours linking Leigh Halfpenny with Bath were well and truly quashed, “Leigh and I had a good laugh about that in my office yesterday,” joked Pivac. “Leigh is in the first year of a three year contract, he is very, very happy. He’s enjoying his rugby and being part of this little run we’re having. I can 100% assure you that he isn’t going anywhere.”
Pivac also played down rumours linking him as the successor to Warren Gatland as Wales coach. He has made no secret that to he would consider the job an honour, but also admits that the Scarlets’ job is still work in progress on the way to the ultimate goal.
“Nothing major at all – just discussions around my contract here because obviously I’ve just signed a new contract, as you’d expect,” he revealed. “I’m pretty sure most coaches in Wales at the highest level would have had the same conversations. There’s been no formal interview.”
So for this week, all the focus is on beating Glasgow and ending their unbeaten run in this season’s League, whilst also maintaining the home record, “It’s new territory for us, going down two routes – it’s going to be very interesting,”admitted Pivac.
“Clearly we want to finish as strongly as we can and we want to protect a massive performance in a semi final in Europe, so the pressure’s on the coaching group to get it right. We’ll be putting out strong sides every week, we’ve got some good competition in most positions now so we can rotate a little bit.”
This Saturday’s fixture is the final guaranteed home fixture of the season and is also sadly the time to say goodbye to players who will be leaving, with the remaining players adamant that their team mates leave with fond memories. Among those who will saying their goodbyes on Satuday will be John Barclay, Tadhg Beirne, Scott Williams and Aled Davies. Kick-off is at 4.15pm