Scarlets routed by Leinster’s avengers
LEINSTER reduced the Scarlets’ Champions’ Cup dream to ruins in Dublin yesterday.
The Welsh challengers arrived with high hopes of reaching their first European final only for Leinster’s avengers to make them pay for the ‘hurt’ the Irish province felt over their 27-15 loss in last year’s PRO12 semifinal.
The Scarlets finished up nursing the worst beating by a British team in a semifinal – 38-16 – since the tournament began in 1995.
“Defeats hurt and some of us hadn’t tasted a semifinal defeat before,’’ Leinster fly-half Johnny Sexton said. “It was important we looked back at our performance against them last season and learned.”
Scarlets skipper Ken Owens said: “We came up against the best side in Europe. They completely strangled us. We just couldn’t get the ball. We worked hard but Leinster were by
WASPS must wise-up their game-management or forget about winning this season’s Premiership title, according to wing wizard Christian Wade.
Last season’s beaten finalists are in the play-off places following last week’s comfortable win over Worcester. However, recent one-point losses at Leicester and Sale have betrayed a worrying inability to close out big games from winning positions.
Wasps have conceded the most tries (54) of any top four team and Wade told The Rugby Paper: “We’re victims of our own ambition, one hundred per cent, and we deserved those results at Leicester and Sale because of the way we played.
“We didn’t manage those games well, made quite a lot of mistakes and weren’t accurate in what we did. We probably try and play a bit too much in the wrong areas of the field and that’s got to be our biggest workon at this stage of the season.”
Wade added: “It’s difficult to criticise a team that’s trying to be ambifar tious but it’s about trying to strike a balance and knowing when is a good time to take risks and when it’s better to play things a bit safer and keep other teams under pressure.
“Saracens and Exeter are probably the best at managing games and not being over-ambitious. They’re criticised for being too boring but if we want to beat them we need to learn to be smarter because it’s becoming our Achilles heel.”
Meanwhile, Wade’s try-double against the Warriors was a welcome return to form for the arch poacher, who admits having gone through a period of self-doubt
“I’m still flat to be honest,” explained Wade, 26, who now has 79 Premiership tries, just 13 off the record held by Tom Varndell, below. “People judge me on whether I’m scoring tries but that’s just basics for me and not really an indicator of whether I’m flat or not. “I feel I’ve been flat for a couple of years. It’s just how I feel and with the demands of the game now it’s hard to be at your very best all the time. “I’m still producing the results and that’s all people can ask for, but I’ve had a couple of injuries and it’s hard to stay on top of things when the games come so thick and fast, because mentally you’ve got to be ready for big games every week. I’m at an age where I realised a couple of years ago that I wasn’t one of the youngest anymore, which came as a bit of a shock. We’ve got young guys like Owain Jones coming through and I’m the one now having to set the good example.
“It’s important for me to set standards and you have to keep re-inventing yourself as you become a marked man. But I believe I’ve done that and there’s a lot more to come from me in a good Wasps team that can beat anyone on their day.”
Having been constantly overlooked by England, Wade concedes international rugby is now a long way from his mind. He said: “I’m not focussing on that at all.
“It’s been a few years since I played for England and if someone had been doing what I’ve been doing for so many years without getting any international recognition, it might get a bit depressing.
“But I refuse to allow that and it’s now all about my team, enjoyment and becoming the best player I can be, regardless of who I’m playing for.”
After losing last year’s Premiership final in heartbreaking fashion to Exeter, Wade adds: “There’s massive motivation after what happened last year.
“This year hasn’t been the smoothest of rides and it’s never easy getting to a final, but if we can get there again – which we firmly believe we can do – because we’ve been there before and know what it takes, that will stand us in good stead.
“We’ve never been outclassed in games we’ve lost, we’ve just lost them through our own silly decisions. But if we can get that right and stay on the money between now and the end of May, we know we can come out triumphant.”