SCARLETS FLOORED BY BATH
It’s been one hell of a ride in 2017 for the Scarlets but all good things, so they say, must come to an end.
Wayne Pivac’s reborn side may yet go on to retain the Guinness PRO12/14 title they won so majestically last May, but as far as Europe’s Champions Cup is concerned there will almost certainly be no fairy-tale after this defeat to Bath.
On the back of the 21-20 reverse out in Toulon last week, it will now take something remarkable to get them out of the pool and into the knock-out stages.
If they win their remaining four games, two against Bennetton, it is not beyond the realms of possibility that they may sneak through. But it’s a real long shot now.
And after a good few pundits tipped them as dark horses to go all the way in the premier tournament – perhaps a touch naively – for it all to go pear-shaped after two outings will gall the region’s supporters.
But that’s the reality they will have to now confront.
The Scarlets have played two of the best and richest club sides in the northern hemisphere on successive weekends and gone mightily close twice.
Yet the unforgiving nature of this competition so often means a miss is as good as a mile.
Quite simply, they had to beat Bath to keep their detiny in their own hands. And quite simply, they came up short.
Granted, the wet and windy conditions were not conducive to the Scarlets’ likening for blitzkrieg attacking rugby. But to blame the weather alone would be foolish.
Bath were incredibly gutsy, they were organised, they were up for the arm-wrestle in all departments and they ground out the result they needed. That’s what rugby at this level is all about.
It will not matter a jot to their coach Todd Blackadder that his side failed to score a try either.
The first-half was a tense and, at times, scrappy affair that wasn’t helped by the adverse elements.
Bath won the battle for gain-line supremacy fairly comfortably, making good hard yards through their forward pack and showing real bite in the collisions.
The upper hand they held in this department yielded them 12 points in penalties, but they owed a debt of gratitude to the impressive Rhys Priestland for converting them.
Putting the ball between the uprights was rarely something Priestland used to do with montonous regularity during his time in the Welsh game.
But on his return to his former stomping ground he was simply exemplary in front of goal.
Two of his four lots of three points in the opening period were from more than 35 metres which, with a swirling wind and relentless spray-type rain, was no mean feat.
Quite apart from kicking for goal, Priestland was assured and composed in almost everything he did. He threw some nice mis-passes and grubberkicked behind the Scarlets defence to good effect on several occasions.
But if Priestland proved a steady source of points for the visitors, nobody managed to match the brilliance of the Scarlets try that really put some zest into this contest.
Wing Steff Evans - surely a certainty to start for Wales against Australia on November 11 given George North’s injury - was yet again the man who got it, but it was the journey to the try-line that had his team’s supporters out of their seats.
The Scarlets counter-attacked left before Evans, as wide-receiver, cut inside and fed the on-rushing scrumhalf Gareth Davies. It looked as though the move would be snuffed out when Davies was snagged after failing to hand the ball on to the unmarked Leigh Halfpenny, but he managed to flick it inside to Evans and the touchdown arrived.
It didn’t prevent Pivac’s men from going in at half-time in arrears, but it did suggest the hosts had another gear if, for a second, Bath allowed them to find it. But that’s precisely what didn’t happen.
There was relief around the stadium in the 48th minute when Priestland charged down a low Rhys Patchell kick, gathered the loose ball and slid towards the Scarlets’ try-line.
The TMO correctly ruled he had lost control of the ball attempting to score, but all the same it was a warning shot, with Bath continuing to hold sway territorially.
When Priestland made that territory count with his fifth penalty from in front of the posts eight minutes later it was no more than the Aviva Premiership side deserved.
The Scarlets looked in need of being re-energised and were beginning to concede too many penalties at the breakdown, probably due to creeping fatigue.
The home side were never out of it, but Bath smothered them whenever there seemed a sniff of a chance, and they played an astute game in keeping the Scarlets pinned down in their own half as much as possible.
And while Priestland’s sixth successful penalty in the 69th minute established only an eight-point lead, you felt the prospect of the Scarlets overhauling it was slim at best.
So it proved. There have been far worse nights west of the Loughor Bridge, but to witness the Scarlets’ Champions Cup challenge wilt at such an early juncture will be tough for them.