Latest
Overview
Season so far
Tournament record
The Scarlets may be out of the Heineken Cup but a victory in France against Castres Olympique could put them in the hunt for a Amlin Challenge Cup quarter-finals. - 19/01/2012 15:00
The Scarlets will be under no illusions that they have to do ‘the double’ over the Saints when the two sides come face-to-face at Parc y Scarlets on Saturday afternoon.
The Welsh side, who have reached three Heineken Cup semi-finals, know they need to get their campaign back on track after their 19-13 defeat to Munster in Irelandin their last game.
The Scarlets are five points behind Pool leaders, Munster, and need a victory to keep in touch with the Irish province and to keep their dream of a first quarter finals place in four years alive.
The Saints, who won the Heineken Cup in 2000 and were beaten finalists in last season’s tournament, have endured a miserable European campaign and have already failed to qualify for the knockout stages.
The English Premiership outfit, though, could still have a major bearing on whether the Scarlets and Munsterqualify for the quarter-finals because they play both of them in the final two games of the Pool.
The Scarlets lost the chance of a first Heineken Cup quarter-final place in four years as they were beaten by Northampton Saints in Pool at Parc y Scarlets. - 14/01/2012 15:37
The Scarlets lost the chance of a first Heineken Cup quarter-final place in four years as they were beaten by Northampton Saints in Pool at Parc y Scarlets.
The Welsh region went into the contest with genuine ambitions of a place in the knockout stages of European rugby’s premier tournament for the first time since 2007 when they reached the semi-finals.
But it was last season's beaten finalists who shone, grabbing a vital away win to keep their hopes of progressing in either the Heineken Cup or Amlin Challenge Cup alive.
Northampton's indiscipline cost them dearly in the opening exchanges when they lost wing Tom May to a yellow card after only two minutes for petulance and the Saints were down to 14-men.
Rhys Priestland and Steve Myler swapped penalties in a scrappy first half before the Tongan wing Viliame Iongi crossed for the home side’s first try of the game after period of sustained pressure.
The Scarlets flyer latched onto a Priestland crosskick to give the Scarlets a 11 point lead before Myler landed a second penalty just before half-time to make it 14-6 to the Welsh side.
The Saints hit straight back after the break when prop Soane Tonga’uiha barged his way over from short-range to claw the Premiership outfit back to within a point of their hosts 14-13.
Myler and Priestland swapped penalties again, but Northampton’s pressure on the home side gave them a 22-17 lead midway through the second half. The Scarlets threw the kitchen sink at the former champions in the dying moments of the game but couldn’t breach Northampton’s defence.
To add salt to the home side’s wounds, they saw England full-back ran the length of the field for an interception try to seal an impressive rearguard action by last season’s beaten finalists to clinch victory.
LIVE - TEST - Commentary