SEMI-FINAL WILL BE HOME FROM HOME FOR LEINSTER – WILLIAMS
SCARLETS centre Scott Williams has waded into the controversy surrounding the staging of Saturday’s European Champions Cup semi-final against Leinster at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium.
The Wales star insisted the home of Irish rugby is “basically Leinster’s home ground” and also admitted the Welsh team are annoyed at being written off by bookmakers.
The Irish province secured their place in the last four after a quarterfinal victory over Saracens on Easter Sunday, while Wayne Pivac’s men knew they were going to be away from home in the semis after a win over La Rochelle last month due to the way the tournament’s seeding system works. Leinster get to play the game in their home country but not at their home stadium, the RDS Arena in Dublin. But the Irish side have regularly used the Aviva as their “home” stadium in recent years, playing there three times so far this season.
The staging of the match at the Aviva has already been the subject of much debate and criticism, and now Scarlets stalwart Williams has had his say.
The 55-times capped Wales star, who is headed for the Ospreys next season, said: “The Aviva is not exactly a neutral venue, it’s basically Leinster’s home ground.
“But we went to their home patch in the semi-final last year and won. They’ve got some outstanding players and more importantly, players who are playing well.”
There have previously been calls to move the fixture to a different venue, former England and Lions outsidehalf Stuart Barnes has dubbed the decision “farcical”, while fellow TV pundit Brian Moore said: “It is an advantage and Leinster can’t say it isn’t because they make so much of the crowd being so supportive of them”.
Centre Williams admits being written off by the bookies has spurred the region on as they aim to become the first Welsh region to be crowned champions of Europe.
“Yes, it has annoyed us,” 27-yearold Williams said. “It was the same last year when nobody expected us to win, but we knew we could do it.
“The bookies have ruled us out completely. We can’t gamble ourselves as players, but I think we are 5/1 to beat Leinster and 9/1 to win the whole competition. If I had £20 spare I’d definitely put it on us beating Leinster and winning the whole thing.” With Pivac’s side hoping they can emulate their PRO12 title win at the Aviva Stadium against Munster last season, Williams is determined to end his stint with the Scarlets on a high while the region is still in the race for European and PRO14 glory.
Williams said: “We want to win both competitions and we can do that.
“We’ve fronted up in the big games over the last few seasons and we now really thrive on those challenges.
“There is no damage limitation involved with us, we are going out there to win and we are confident we can do that. It’s not going to be easy, but if we play the way we know we can, as we did against Bath for example, then we can beat Leinster.”
The clash comes after a largely second-string Scarlets side was thrashed 52-14 by Edinburgh last weekend, and three-time European champions Leinster were defeated 17-15 by Benetton.
“Johnny Sexton is their go-to guy and he seems to control the way they are trying to play. Hopefully he has an off-day against us”, Williams added.
“It’s about making sure we execute the way we want to play, but you never know whether it might be raining so we may have to revert to a tighter game.
“It’s about being smart and making the right call at the time, but we will be focusing on ourselves more than anything.”
■ Leinster fitness boost: Page 43