SCARLETS READY TO RUN RIOT
Flyer Davies insists the Welsh dazzlers won’t change their expansive style in Dublin showdown
GARETH DAVIES reckons the Scarlets should play their usual game and run Leinster off the park today.
The Wales scrum-half insists they will not abandon their expansive style in the Champions Cup semifinal in Dublin. He said: “We will stick to our usual game and not change anything. “We’re approaching this game as we would approach any other game. We’ve showed over the last 18 months we want to play an expansive brand of rugby. “We’ve been training well so hopefully we can bring that brand of rugby on the weekend.” Scarlets coach Wayne Pivac has shifted Leigh Halfpenny from his usual position of full-back, with Rhys Patchell now starting there. Leinster are bolstered by the return of Ireland centre Robbie Henshaw, while Jonathan Sexton starts at outside half. Davies says the Scarlets are relishing being written off ahead of their biggest fixture in a decade. He said: “Leinster are rightly favourites going into the game but we as a group of players quite like going into games as underdogs. “Every game from now until the end of the season is knockout rugby. But we want to take that extra step and make it to the final. “We set a target at the start of the season to be involved in the knockout stages in both the league and the cup. “I think that’s an achievement for ourselves to have got that far but we are hungry for more.” Fifty miles down the M4, Cardiff Blues are aiming to join Scarlets in Bilbao – which is hosting both European finals – when they face Pau in the Challenge Cup semi-final. The Blues are going in search of their first silverware since winning this competition in 2010. Wales legend Gethin Jenkins will captain the Blues and has urged his players to seize their chance. He said: “It will be a good feeling to lead the boys out on to the park and hopefully lead the team into a European final. “I’ve never played in a semifinal at the Arms Park so I am keen for us to go out and get the victory. Pau have got a lot of experience in their squad. “They have quality throughout with ex-All Blacks and Steffon Armitage, who is a key player for them, and a very strong pack.”