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Scarlets blew Pool 4 wide open with their victory over Harlequins at The Twickenham Stoop in Round One. But head coach Simon Easterby admits that will count for nothing if they fail to follow that up against Racing-Metro at Parc Y Scarlets. - 18/10/2013 12:10
Scarlets blew Pool 4 wide open with their victory over Harlequins at The Twickenham Stoop in Round One. But head coach Simon Easterby admits that will count for nothing if they fail to follow that up against Racing-Metro at Parc Y Scarlets.
The Parisiens will be wary of the threat posed by the Scarlets' Williams boys after three of the four – centre Scott, wing Jordan and scrum-half Rhodri – all scored against Harlequins.
In contrast Racing were forced to dig in their heels against Clermont-Auvergne before edging the low-scoring French derby 13-9. Marc Andreu scored a break-away try against the run of play but victory owed more to Racing's defence while head coach Laurent Travers will want to see an improvement on his team's discpline after they were twice reduced to 14 men.
Scarlets head coach Simon Easterby said: “Racing were pretty dogged without the ball against Clermont, which means we have to be accurate because Racing defend very well and haven't conceded many tries this season.
“Their scrum and driving line-out is a weapon for them and while our scrum has been good this season, this will be the toughest test yet.
“They are a pretty effective outfit, have coaches who won the French Championship with Castres last season, and they are starting to look like they are gelling a bit. What we have to do is focus on ourselves, get what we did last weekend in place and then try and counter some of their threats.
“We are going to have to muscle up again against a pretty physical team who with a player like Jonny Sexton in their ranks can play a couple of different games. We know last weekend won't mean anything if we don't perform this weekend against Racing.”
Wales outside half Rhys Priestland will go head to head with Irish counterpart Johnny Sexton though injury has prevented a clash between British & Irish Lions centre Jonathan Davies and Jamie Roberts, who is out with an ankle injury.
Match Facts
- Racing beat domestic rivals Clermont last weekend despite having the least amount of time in possession of any team in Round 1 (9 minutes).
- Scarlets have won five of their last seven home matches against French clubs in the Heineken Cup; both of the defeats were against Clermont.
- Racing have won three of nine away games in the Heineken Cup, conceding an average of 28 points per game in these nine matches.
- Only Racing (42) made fewer passes than Scarlets (78) in the first round of action.
- Aaron Shingler’s performance against Harlequins earned him a place in the Amlin Opta Index team of the week. The Wales international made a try assist, won six lineouts, made two clean breaks and beat three defenders at the Twickenham Stoop.
- Despite a brilliant try, Jordan Williams missed five tackles in Round 1 – no player missed more during the first weekend of matches in the Heineken Cup.
- Scarlets hooker, Emyr Phillips, hit the target with all 10 of his lineout throws against Harlequins.
- Racing made fewer carries (45) and more tackles (161) than any other side in the opening round of the tournament.
- Both sides were shown two yellow cards apiece last weekend, a joint-high for the round.
- Racing meet a Welsh club in this tournament for the third time. They have lost the previous two (both v Cardiff Blues in 2011/12).
L'équipe de Llanelli n'a jamais tremblé sur sa pelouse face à l'Ulster (22-13) et reprend la deuxième place à Leicester dans cette poule dominée par Toulon. Les Gallois respirent encore en Champions Cup. - 14/12/2014 20:35
Scarlets fans were relieved to see Johnny Sexton miss with a late penalty and then drop goal attempt that meant the battle between the top two teams in Pool 4 ended in a draw.
The home side, still high on their three-try victory over Harlequins at the Twickenham Stoop the previous weekend, were 20-10 to the good at the break thanks to two more tries from the Williams clan, Scott and Rhodri.
But they failed to make the most of a two man advantage at the end of the first and start of the second half and allowed Racing Metro to come back into the game and snatch a share of the points in the end.
Rhys Priestland should have given the Welsh region a comfortable start, but the international stand-off was wide with a pair of early penalties. Then they were forced to pay a high price as Racing pounced from a scrum to score a try through Wenceslas Lauret.
The try emanated from the scrum, where the Scarlets’ were hit by the suspension of rising tight head star Samson Lee. Jonathan Sexton added the extras and the French side began to look comfortable.
But home skipper Jonathan Davies paved the way for a try from his centre partner Scott Williams and, on the stroke of half-time, scrum half Rhodri Williams followed suit.
Priestland converted both, and added two penalties, and by the break the Scarlets were 20-10 to the good. Not only that, they had a two man advantage after Dimiti Szarsewski and Fabrice Estebanez
With numbers in their favour it was no surprise when the Scarlets extended their lead when Priestland land another penalty. But Sexton wasn’t far behind in response and by the time the French side were back up to a full complement no further damage had been done.
Their relief at still being within 10 points of their hosts was in direct opposition to home coach Simon Easterby’s expression. He had hoped for more from his side at a crucial moment in the game, but the killer instinct never really emerged.
The Scarlets began to get nervy, after all they hadn’t been in touching distance of successive Heineken Cup wins for quite some time, and they had plenty of problems at line-out time. The Racing pack had shown their strength in containing Clermont and they paved the way for replacement front rower Mask Matadio to cross for a try within seven minutes of coming onto the field.
Sexton added the conversion and the gap was suddenly only three points. Sexton then drew the scores level on the hour with a penalty the Scarlets once again had to rely on Priestland’s boot for another penalty to hoist them into a 26-23 lead.
Sexton was on target to make it 26-26 with 10 minutes to go and, in the end, the Scarlets were happy to hang on for a share of the points.
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