Latest
Overview
Season so far
Tournament record
Scarlets look to continue their superb form in this season’s EPCR Challenge Cup on Saturday, when they travel to Aviron Bayonnais in Round 4.
The Welsh side have won all three of their matches so far to top Pool B and qualify for the knockout stages with a game to spare, opening their campaign with a thumping 39-7 win over Bayonne in Llanelli, whereas Bayonne are currently bottom of the pool with a painful points difference of -89.
The match kicks off at 2pm local time at Stade Jean Dauger, and can be viewed on France 3, beIN SPORTS, S4C and FloRugby.
Key quote
Scarlets head coach Dwayne Peel: “It is up to us to get the boys fresh and get some energy in the group before Bayonne, because we want to go hard at getting that top spot in the pool. We want to finish the job off.”
🔒 Home last 16 tie locked in
Here's how things stand going into the final round of @ChallengeCup_ pool matches
Pwy allwn wynebu, ble a phryd yn rownd yr 16 olaf o'r Cwpan Her
🔗 https://t.co/ddPNXcIUBd#ChallengeCupRugby #YmaOHyd pic.twitter.com/ePg88hb7Jp
— Scarlets Rugby (@scarlets_rugby) January 16, 2023
Aviron Bayonnais
- Thomas Dohagaray made more kicking metres than any other player in Round 3, with 725.
- Trying to catch the passes of Michael Ruru, Bayonne receivers have made four errors – the most in the competition.
- Bayonne have scored the joint-fewest tries in the competition with three, but are also the only team yet to miss a kick at goal.
- They have the lowest rate of gain-line success in the tournament, with 41 per cent.
Scarlets
- He was only on the pitch for 28 minutes, but Wyn Jones won three turnovers in Round 3 – as many as any other player.
- Sam Costelow has scored the most points in the competition, with 29. He has missed only one kick at goal, meaning he has a success rate off the tee of 93 per cent.
- Steff Evans has scored four tries so far in the tournament, matched only by Cardiff’s Josh Adams. He has also made the most clean breaks, with seven.
- Dane Blacker’s kicks have caused six pressure errors by the opposition. No other player has forced more than two.
Scarlets sealed top spot in EPCR Challenge Cup Pool B and a home match in the Round of 16 as they romped to a 20-7 win at Aviron Bayonnais in Round 4 on Saturday.
Tries from Jonathan Davies, Joe Roberts and Steff Evans got the job done – with one penalty and one conversion coming from the boot of Leigh Halfpenny.
Johnny McNicholl’s pass 🔗 Jonathan Davies’ finish… delicious 😍
📺 Watch LIVE on @francetvsport, @beinsports_FR, @S4C and @FloRugby#ChallengeCupRugby | @scarlets_rugby pic.twitter.com/6IOOla1WAs
— EPCR Challenge Cup (@ChallengeCup_) January 21, 2023
The Welsh region have now won all four of their matches in the competition thus far this season – and had qualified for the knockout stage ahead of their trip to Bayonne.
The hosts did get on the scoreboard with a try from Bastien Pourailly, converted by Jason Robertson, on 65 minutes.
But there would be no turnaround for the TOP 14 outfit though as they ended their pool stage campaign without picking up a point in Pool B.
LIVE - TEST - Commentary