Scarlets can follow Liverpool lead – Scott
SCOTT Quinnell is tipping his beloved Scarlets to do a Liverpool and sock it to favourites Leinster on Saturday in the semi-finals of rugby’s Champions Cup.
The Lions, Wales and Llanelli No.8 great believes the west Wales region can do to Leinster what Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool did to Manchester City in the quarter-finals of football’s Champions League.
Liverpool confounded most pundits by trouncing Pep Guardiola’s star-studded City 3-0 in the first leg and 2-1 away in the second for a stunning 5-1 triumph.
Former Wales captain Quinnell, a life-long Liverpool supporter, said: “We’ve just seen in football how an unfancied team in red beat a fancied one in blue.
“If that can happen in the Champions League, then it can happen in the Champions Cup.”
Leinster have been rugby’s kings of Europe three times and are firm favourites with bookmakers to end Scarlets’ dream of being the first Welsh team to lift the northern hemisphere’s club jewel when they meet at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium.
The ‘Mighty Quinn’ told the Rugby Paper: “Leinster are one of the best in Europe, if not the best, but then they said that about Manchester City.
“Liverpool were the underdogs and look what they did to them. So why not dream?”
Although Leinster have been installed as favourites to win the tournament, they were convincingly beaten by eventual champions Scarlets in Dublin during last season’s Guinness PRO12 semi-finals.
Wayne Pivac’s men even managed to pull off that feat despite having had wing Steff Evans dismissed for a dangerous challenge in the first half and having to play the remainder of the match with 14 players.
“In sport there are occasions when you look at an impressive team on the up and you think: ‘It’s your time,’” declared Quinnell.
“The Scarlets have been on the up for a while now. Their all-action game is brilliant and they will come flying out of the traps against Leinster,” predicted the Sky Sports TV pundit.
Scarlets were beaten by Leicester Tigers in their 2007 semi, while the Llanelli club team which preceded the regional era twice made the last four.
Quinnell was at No.8 during its 31-28 defeat to Northampton Saints 18 years ago and was skipper during a 13-12 loss to Leicester in 2002.
■ More rugby: SportWales