It’s Scarlets fever... but what’s the secret behind region’s transformation?
THE Scarlets have come a long way in a short time, from PRO12 also-rans just a couple of years ago to Championship winners and now contenders for European glory.
In the wake of Friday night’s stunning exhibition of free-running rugby in Bath, Wayne Pivac’s side have had to ditch the dark horses tag handed to them before the start of this season’s Champions Cup.
They are now considered a decent bet to become the first Welsh team to claim Europe’s premier club prize, with the bookies responding to that 35-17 triumph at The Rec by slashing the Scarlets’ odds below those of three-time winners Toulon – their opponents on Saturday – English champions Exeter Chiefs and French heavyweights Racing 92.
Semi-finalists in 2000, 2002 and 2007, the Scarlets are on the verge of a place in the knockout stages for the first time in 11 years.
So what has been the secret of success in Llanelli?
Rugby writer ROB LLOYD, who has followed the Scarlets’ European journey from the start, provides an insight into why the West Walians have emerged as a continental force again... Skills, skills and more skills There is no secret to the coaching philosophy of Wayne Pivac and Stephen Jones – a relentless pursuit of honing individual skills.
Take Tadhg Beirne, man of the match against Bath, for example.
The Irishman will be the first to admit when he first arrived in Llanelli, he wasn’t the greatest passer of the ball.
“When Tadhg came to us his catch-pass was poor,” recalled Pivac.
“He is one of the guys who has improved his skills over a period of time.
“He has worked really hard; his general game has gone through the roof.
“That doesn’t happen by accident, there are certain drills we do every single training session, all our warm-ups are with ball in hand, doing specific drills which align with what we want to do in a game.
“We also do team v team stuff with the boys handling the ball under pressure; there is a lot of competition in the training sessions and we do a lot of work transitioning, we allow turnovers so there is a lot of running and that also improves general fitness levels.
“The more you put players in those situations the better it is.”
The coaches demand high standards in training and the result is that every player, from tight-head prop to full-back, appears comfortable with ball in hand.
In the build-up to Beirne’s sensational first-half try at The Rec, 6ft 6in second row David Bulbring had to stretch low to his right to take a pass from Rhys Patchell before firing off a lovely long pass of his own to Hadleigh Parkes.
For Williams’s second-half try, it was hooker Ken Owens at the base of a ruck in scrum-half mode, while one attack had tight-head prop Samson Lee standing in the fly-half position, delivering a catch and give to get the backline moving. It’s a happy camp down west The beer-soaked scenes that were captured in the away dressing room on Friday night painted a picture of the harmony within the squad.
When Pivac first arrived in Llanelli, former All Black Xavier Rush, who played under him at Auckland, spoke about his reputation as a fantastic man manager and the players themselves have talked about how their decisions to stay and sign new contracts at the Scarlets have been influenced by Pivac and his back-room team agreeing new long-term deals.
The squad boasts some larger-thanlife characters such as Rob Evans and James Davies, but a lot of the players have come through schools and academy rugby together. They enjoy each other’s company.
Pivac has also spoken about making sure that everyone in the camp is singing off the same song sheet and he’s not referring to the rendition of Llanelli anthem Sosban Fach following every victory.
Early in his tenure, the head coach made some big decisions, not all popular with supporters, to point certain players to the exit door.
“The first two years we set about making critical changes we felt we needed to make within the rugby department, and we saw the fruits of that labour last season,” said the New Zealander. “We have hand picked this squad if you like, the culture is there within the group, they enjoy coming to work and everyone is paddling in the same direction.” The signings have flourished Has there been a better value-formoney regional signing than Beirne?
The man from Kildare was a low-key, low-cost late addition to the Scarlets squad prior to the 2016-17 campaign – a former Ireland Under-20s international who was on the fringes at Leinster and was brought in to fill one of the last remaining places in Pivac’s playing roster.
As Ireland great Brian O’Driscoll said on Twitter on the weekend: “Truthfully I never saw him becoming this sort of player in his time with the Leinster Academy! One for 2019 RWC Squad???” Beirne is not alone. New Wales cap Parkes and Kiwi Johnny McNicholl have been shrewd overseas acquisitions, so too South African forwards Bulbring and Werner Kruger, particularly when you consider the injury problems suffered by Jake Ball and Samson Lee.
The versatile Paul Asquith was an unknown when he was brought in from Australian club rugby last summer, but the silky skillset of the former sevens star has proven a perfect fit.