We were second best says honest Pivac
the better side. They had a great game-plan and we couldn’t get a sniff of the ball. They won pretty much every aspect of the game. We have no complaints.’’
The severity of the beating came in sharp contrast to the Scarlets’ previous appearance at the Aviva Stadium at the end of last season when they captured the PRO12 title in style with an exhilarating win over Munster. They scored six tries then and were lucky not to concede that many yesterday.
“We came second best across the park,’’ head coach Wayne Pivac said. “Sometimes you have to respect that the opposition played very well on the day. Leinster kept us on the back foot defensively.
“At 17-9 we were quite happy to go into half-time and have a chat. We are still alive in one competition and our challenge now is to make sure we finish our season on a high.’’
Leinster’s unrelenting dominance made it the second most one-sided semi-final in the history of the competition.
Only one team has endured a worst defeat, Clermont who lost to Saracens by 40 points at Twickenham four years ago.
Scarlets second row Tadhg Beirne said his former team’s performance around the ruck was ‘exceptional’.
“They kept the ball pretty well, they’re pretty exceptional around the ruck. They didn’t give us a sniff,” noted Beirne, who will be playing his rugby with Munster next season. “They held onto the ball well. We made silly mistakes.”
Beirne was asked to rate Leinster’s James Ryan. “We actually played together for Lansdowne. He’s been scouted since he was about 15. As everyone in this country knows, he’s a bit of a prodegy.”