WHY ARE SCARLETS AWAY?
ACHAMPIONS Cup semifinal awaits the Scarlets after another memorable night in West Wales. Good Friday 29-17 victory over La Rochelle means Wayne Pivac’s side will take on either Leinster or Saracens – who meet at the Aviva Stadium tomorrow – later this month, with a first-ever final appearance the mouthwatering prize.
The Scarlets weren’t at their fluent best against the French side, particularly in a first half punctuated by errors and stoppages.
But they showed a huge amount of character to repel a La Rochelle onslaught in the second period, before sealing their progress with tries by Rhys Patchell and Scott Williams which brought a full house at Parc y Scarlets to their feet.
ROB LLOYD looks at the major talking points from another stirring night in Llanelli. A DISPLAY FULL OF DEFENSIVE GRIT THE Scarlets have won many admirers for their attacking verve and spirit of adventure during this tournament, but again, like the second half of their final pool match against Toulon, their unrelenting determination to hold their line under huge pressure proved crucial.
As fans look back, it won’t be the tries by Patchell and Williams that stand out, but the way the home pack were able to halt La Rochelle’s juggernaut driving maul, not once, not twice, but on numerous occasions when under siege in a corner of the ground in the second half.
Tadhg Beirne was at the heart of it, as was John Barclay, who produced a crucial turnover on his own line as the French side sent their heavyweight runners charging to the whitewash. It was a game changer.
Had La Rochelle scored then and taken a narrow lead, who knows how the Scarlets and the crowd would have reacted.
Instead, to a rapturous roar, the home side were able to clear their lines and within minutes were celebrating Patchell’s try at the other end.
“It was a big turning point to get out of that corner without conceding points,” admitted Pivac afterwards. “That driving maul is a big part of the French game and it was a collective effort to repel them.”
La Rochelle coach Patrice Collazo summed it up when he said: “At times it felt like we had 15,000 against us in the defensive line.” A SKIPPER LEADING THE WAY HEARING Ken Owens speak about his European journey in the build-up to this quarter-final, it was clear that this game meant a lot, an awful lot.
The Wales hooker was a lone survi- vor from the match-day 23 that had last played in the knockout stages 11 years ago.
The ‘Sheriff’ is a player who was weaned on big European nights at Stradey Park. Owens led magnificently. He set the tone from the outset, smashing into 22-stone La Rochelle prop Uini Atonio and rocking him back with a thunderous tackle. He finished as the Scarlets’ leading tackler, regularly hit his line-out targets and was prominent with ball in hand.
Crucially, when it appeared referee Luke Pearce was going to sin-bin Beirne for hauling down a La Rochelle line-out rumble close to the home line, he was able to convince the official that the second row deserved to stay on the field.
It was a performance that defined ‘leading by example’. LEIGH HALFPENNY UNDERLINED HIS VALUE IT was understandable that Leigh Halfpenny would take a bit of time to settle into the Scarlets’ style following his return from Toulon in the summer.
But it’s for nights like these; tight, nervy knockout matches, where a THE Scarlets will be on their travels whoever emerges victorious.
The overall format for the semifinal matches in the Champions Cup recognises performances by clubs during the pool stage as well as the achievement of winning a quarter-final match away from home.
It means the Scarlets already know they will play either Leinster or Saracens at a neutral away venue on either Saturday, April 21 or Sunday, April 22.
The ties are played at venues designated by tournament bosses EPCR which have been selected in player of Halfpenny’s qualities come to the fore. While the home side struggled for fluency and accuracy in the opening period, Halfpenny’s metronomic boot kept the scoreboard ticking over, punishing La Rochelle’s ill-discipline.
He finished with a 19-point haul, missing just one of his eight kicks at goal, but it was his all-round game from full-back and then when he this instance in conjunction with the Irish Rugby Football Union and Premiership Rugby.
Leinster, unsurprisingly, have chosen the Aviva – just a drop kick from their RDS home – as their venue of choice, while Saracens, who play out their regular Premiership games out of Allianz Park in north London have opted for Coventry’s Ricoh Arena, which has a capacity of 32,609.
The competition breaks new ground this season with the final taking place at the 53,000-capacity San Mames Stadium in the Spanish city of Bilbao on Saturday, May 12. switched to the wing, that earned the praise of his coach afterwards.
“I thought he was superb. His fullback play was very, very good and when he went onto the wing there wasn’t one mistake, coming off his left foot and stepping inside, not going into touch, not turning the ball over.
“His cleanout work for a small guy is excellent and he is very accurate in