Scarlets Slay Dragons to Secure Home Play Off Spot

With the disappointment of the Semi Final loss against Leinster still fresh, Head Coach, Wayne Pivac has admitted that this week has been a mentally tough one as the squad continue with their Judgement Day preparations.
After reviewing the game, Pivac revealed it has been all about gearing the squad up mentally rather than physically as the Region aims to complete a full house of derby victories this season.
“I guess it’s like when your son or daughter falls off their bike, you want to dust them off and put them back on,” amitted Pivac. “Our players want to get back out there. Rugby players don’t like getting beaten in a one-on-one confrontation. The boys want to rectify that and to do that you have to get an opportuity.”
With a home play-off place the guaranteed prize should they secure the full five points, Pivac made no qualms about the target he’s set his squad. “We are putting out what we believe is our strongest possible side, bearing in mind the workload of some players who won’t be up to playing,” he revealed.
There is some positive news on the injury front for the Scarlets with both Wyn Jones and Tom Prydie available for selection for a place in the matchday twenty three for the play-offs whilst despite fearing his season was over, Johnny McNicholl is back in training and on track to make an appearance should the Scarlets reach the Semi Final stage.
Unfortunately, Jake Ball still awaits being cleared to play, despite being back in training for a few weeks and being described as ‘like a gazelle’ by his Coach!
“He is looking fantastic, but there is one muscle group in the shoulder that we need to get stronger,” explained Pivac. “He in undergoing some more testing. The results are going in the right direction, just a little bit slower.”
Centre, Scott Williams was named as Captain for possibly his last Judgement Day appearance in the famous Scarlet jersey , with the inclusion of Ioan Nicholas on the Wing meaning that Leigh Halfpenny started at Full Back and Rhys Patchell at Outside Half.
In the pack, Ryan Elias has been named at Hooker with Tadhg Beirne moving to the back row alongside James Davies and Will Boyde.
It was a strong start from the Scarlets forwards, looking unfamiliar in their red home Scarlets tops and grey away shorts due to a late kit change, as they powered their way into the Dragons 22. The intent was there from the start as they turned down an easy three points in their quest for the four tries.
The Scarlets’ drive continued from the line-out and again the option was to kick for the corner following a second penalty award. It took just 7 minutes for the first try with Tadhg Beirne securing the line-out and Ryan Elias at the bottom of the drive to claim the score. Leigh Halfpenny added a superb conversion attempt from the touchline to add the extras and give the Scarlets a 0-points to 7 lead.
It was almost a second try minutes later as a superb penalty kick from Rhys Patchell offered another good attacking line-out. Unfortunately, the Dragons’ defence held firm and the Scarlets were pinged for holding on.
It took almost twenty minutes before the Dragons managed to really get their hands on the ball, but despite a break from Rosser, they Scarlets’ defence remained intact.
The Dragons were rewarded for their efforts with a penalty attempt that saw Arwel Robson’s successful effort get the Men of Gwent on the scoreboard – 3 points to 7.
Despite the pressure from the Scarlets, the try quest became frustrating until a break from Patchell in mid-field gave the travelling supporters something to cheer about until he lost the ball in the tackle.
Going back to basics, the Scarlets continued their attack with some beautiful handling before Leigh Halfpenny strolled over in the corner. Despite awarding the try, referee, Linton then added to the frustrations by deciding to consult the TMO. Correctly, the try was disallowed due to a knock-on at the base of the ruck from Scrum Half, Gareth Davies, but surely this is something that needs to be addressed, that either all try scoring attempts are checked or once a try is awarded, then the decision stands, regardless.
With half time approaching and despite a powerful run from Hadleigh Parkes that put the Scarlets into a good attacking position, the game lacked any real flow or spark and the score remained at 3 points to 7 in the Scarlets’ favour.
The second half saw the Scarlets once again put the Dragons under pressure in their own half. After being penalised for off-side the West Walians took full advantage of the dominance of their scrum, with initially, replacement Chris Coleman being shown a yellow card, before finally the Scarlets were awarded a penalty try. Bizarrely, this collapse of the scrum did not result in a second yellow card for the Dragons as the Scarlets extended their lead to 3 points to 14.
With the dominance of the Scarlets becoming more apparent, a break from James ‘Cubby Boi’ Davies saw Steff Evans pass to Steve Cummins who powered his way into the Dragons’ 22 once more before off-loading and combining with Gareth Davies and Scott Williams before Tadhg Beirne crossed for try number three. Halfpenny’s attempt to add the extras hit the upright as the Scarlets extended their lead to 3 points to 19.
It took 55 minutes before the try bonus point was in the bag with Tadhg Beirne stretching over from close range for his brace to seal a home play-off spot for the defending Champions. Halfpenny added the extras to give the Scarlets a commanding 3 points to 26 advantage.
Despite the efforts of James Davies, and it appearing that he had grounded the ball on top of his own hand, the TMO awarded Jared Rosser with the Dragons’ first try of the afternoon. With the conversion missed, the gap was narrowed slightly to 8 points to 26.
However, the Scarlets hadn’t quite finished notching up the points as Wing, Steff Evans darted over for try number five, bursting his way through several tackle attempts on the way to the line. Halfpenny added the conversion to give a final score of 8 points to 33.
Whilst it wasn’t a great game of rugby, it was job done for the Scarlets as they completed their 100% derby success and booked a play-off against the Toyota Cheetahs next Saturday at Parc y Scarlets.
Speaking after the game, Pivac’s frustration was obvious. “We came to get five points and we are happy with that,” he revealed. “The first half was an indictment of the game. I was very frustrated at half-time as the players were.”
“I don’t think we had a ball come out of the scrum,” he continued. “When the referee got the scrum to stay up, one team clearly had a dominant scrum, everyone could see that, so we wasted 40 minutes of rugby.”
Scrum Half, Gareth Davies was equally critical, and rightly so, of the performance of the Dragons.
“We were way too powerful for the Dragons today,” he revealed. “To be honest, we were a bit disappointed we conceded eight points against them…. we didn’t get out of second gear.”
He continued, “Every time we play against the Dragons they seem to bring us down to their level of rugby, which is very average in my opinion.”
Looking ahead to next week, the International Number Nine expects a far more challenging game, “We are expecting a tougher challenge against the Cheetahs next week,” he added. “They like to play a bit of rugby and hopefully it will be a good game and we can come out on top.”
“Hopefully we have another big crowd and can get another big win,” he concluded.
The play-off kicks off at 6.35pm on Saturday, May 5th as the Scarlets faithful get the opportunity to savour Parc y Scarlets one extra time this season. Should the result go the Scarlets way, they will then head to Glasgow on Friday, May 18th, 2018 for the Semi Final fixture against Conference A leaders, Glasgow, with the winner heading to the Aviva Stadium in Dublin for the final on Saturday, May 26th.