Clancy Clangers Contribute As Scarlets Lose to Edinburgh

With just three matches left in the regular Pro14 season, the Scarlets faced Edinburgh in a game that would probably see the victor progress to the knock-out stages.
Former Scarlets favourite, John Barclay lined up in the back row for the opposition, whilst the Scarlets welcomed six of the Grand Slam winning squad – Ken Owens, Rob Evans, Jonathan Davies, Hadleigh Parkes, Gareth Davies and Steff Evans. Rhys Patchell did not appear in the match day squad with Dan Jones starting along side Gareth Davies at half back.
Speaking before the game, Head Coach, Wayne Pivac said, “We are still very much alive in the play-off race, that is the attitude of this group.”
He added, “If we can get three wins from our final three games, then we will have to see what happens with games involving the other sides battling for a top-three place, but we believe there is still an opportunity to finish third and an opportunity for second.”
It was a solid start for the hosts following a break from Leigh Halfpenny, they worked through the phases and recycled the ball well. Winning a line-out just outside the Edinburgh 22 offered the Scarlets a further chance to attack, however Edinburgh secured a penalty at the breakdown and kicked for touch.
Despite the throw in being far from straight, justice was served when the ball was lost forward and the Scarlets’ forwards’ dominance at the scrum resulted in a further penalty that saw the hosts back in control and deep in the Edinburgh half. A clever side-step from Halfpenny who passed to Gareth Davies saw the Scrum Half cross for the first try of the afternoon. Halfpenny added the simple conversion to give the the Scarlets an early lead by 7 points to 0.
However, Edinburgh hit back strongly and were soon deep in the Scarlets’ 22. Despite winning the line-out, Gareth Davies knocked on, offering the visitors a scrum and an opportinity to push for points. Another superb effort from the Scarlets forwards saw another scrum penalty go against the Scots, but despite clearing their lines, the Scarlets again made hard work of things in the line-out.
Quick thinking from Dan Jones at the drop-out offered Johnny McNicholl the chance to demonstrate his pace, slicing open the Edinburgh defence. The Scarlets recycled the ball well before the pass reached Jonathan Davies who dived over in the corner for the second try. Halfpenny was wide with his conversion attempt as the Scarlets’ lead extended to 12 points to 0.
Edinburgh were offered the chance to get their first points on the board as they kicked for touch into the Scarlets’ 22 from a penalty. After securing the line-out they set up the rolling maul, however superb defence from the Scarlets saw them secure the scrum. Opting to run, McNIcholl again broke through the Edinburgh defence. A crunching tackle on John Barclay by Will Boyde saw the former Scarlet favourite welcomed back to his former stomping ground in a classic student versus master style.
Uproar ensued in Parc y Scarlets as Edinburgh’s kick for the corner clearly went way over the dead ball line however, the touch judge decided to award Edinburgh a line-out in a great attacking position, to the boos of the majority of the crowd. After securing the ball, they set up the rolling maul and powered towards the line. Referee, George Clancy deemed that it had been deliberately been brought down and despite playing advantage, he finally awarded Edinburgh the penalty, and Skipper, Ken Owens was shown a yellow card for pulling down the maul.
It was probably fitting that despite it being a relatively straight forward kick, Outside Half Jaco Van Der Walt’s penalty attempt sailed wide of the posts and the half time score remained at 12 points to 0.
The second half started with the hosts in control, following a Gareth Davies snipe down the wing, but unfortunately he sneaked a toe in touch.
Parc y Scarlets rose to it’s feet, as John Barclay left the field after taking a knock and soon after Edinburgh finally got their first points on the board through the boot of Van de Walt who was succesful with his penalty attempt to cut the visitors’ defeceit to 12 points to 3.
The hosts continued to attack with some sublime passing, and it looked that Jonathan Davies was likely to cross for his brace of tries, however he was brought down short and the Scarlets were penalised for a dangerous tackle.
With play back in the Scarlets’ 22, Edinburgh were offered another chance at a kickable penalty, but opted to kick for the corner. Their risk paid off as after setting up an attacking maul, the Scots spread the ball wide before late replacement, Matt Scott crossed under the posts. Van Der Walt added the conversion to bring his team back to within two points – 12 points to 10.
Just when it looked like the Scarlets were about to launch another attack, Van Der Walt intercepted the ball and raced downfield before diving over for another Edinburgh try. He added the extras to put Edinburgh in the lead for the first time – 12 points to 17.
A matter of minutes later Van Der Walt added a penalty to put Edinburgh ahead by 8 points – 12 point to 20 meaning that they had scored 20 unanswered points in the second half putting them two scores ahead and also out of losing bonus point territory.
Just when it seemed that the Scarlets were about to launch another attack, the whistle of George Clancy again halted things and with the penalty counted stacked heavily against the Scarlets in the second half, Van Der Walt again kicked for the coner as the visitors played down the clock to secure a victory that would surely see them reach the play-offs.
With seconds remaining on the clock, the Scarlets launched a last gasp atempt to at least gain a losing bonus point, however losing the ball resulted in a scrum and Edinburgh were more than happy to kick the ball off the park to secure the victory by 12 points to 20.
As it stands, it appears that the Scarlets’ hopes of reaching the play-offs have been severly dented and they will now need to rely heavily on results elsewhere going in their favour.