Test stars are back in best shape ever warns Pivac
DEFENDING champions Scarlets have sent out an ominous warning ahead of the start of the new Guinness PRO14 season.
Wayne Pivac’s side stunned their rivals at the end of the last campaign to demolish Munster in the final at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium and claim their first silverware since 2004.
And with two weeks to go before the expanded PRO14 gets underway, the Welsh region insist their preparations couldn’t have gone any better.
“We are in an advanced state compared to where we were this time last year, as you’d expect with each season we spend together as a squad and coaching group,” said head coach Pivac, below.
“The internationals have come back in much better shape than they have done in the past and their integration with the group has been very good. We’re definitely in better shape physically.
“We should hit the ground running and that’s one of the things we’ve talked about as a group. Last season we were zero from three at the start and we want to turn that around with some wins early on. That’s what we’ll be trying to do and the next two weeks will play a big part in that.” The Scarlets played some dazzling rugby to finish top of the pile last season and have been boosted by the arrival of British & Irish Lions star Leigh Halfpenny this summer. Confidence is understandably high in Llanelli and Pivac boasts a squad determined to succeed once again this term. Leinster are the only team to have retained the Celtic title. “If you sit back, relax, and dwell on the past then you are going to get overtaken,” Pivac said. “It’s professional sport and everyone is striving to be number one. We start from scratch again in a few weeks and like everyone else, we want to win as many games as possible. “If we want to defend the title we can’t just sit here and think it will happen because it won’t. We’ve had a chat about that, but we still have to back that up on the pitch. “You can’t relax as a group and that’s the message we’ve relaid to the players. They all need to improve individually and if each player can do that by one or two per cent then we will get better as a team.”