It's men against the boys on the field

Apr 23 2007 Andy Howell, Western Mail

Leicester Tigers 33-17 Scarlets

The haunted look of despair etched on the face of Stephen Jones following another Scarlets' Heineken Cup semi-final exit told its own story.

Wales skipper Jones struggled to find words in his native Welsh tongue to describe his feelings afterwards and refused to do interviews with the written media at the Walkers Stadium.

His manner perhaps highlighted the pressure he has been under following the emergence of James Hook as a real rival for the national No 10 jersey and Wales' dismal record during his tenure as captain.

To his credit, he later found time to sign autographs for children milling around the Scarlets team bus. Jones wasn't the only one downcast because their supporters were also feeling the same way.

They had embarked on their mass exodus to Leicester sharing the view of virtually everybody associated with the Stradey Park outfit that this was their year.

But that dream of becoming the first Welsh region to reach a European final foundered against old foes Leicester Tigers.

Although they battled hard and gave it everything, there were far too many errors and their set-piece work was suspect.

It left Wales still searching for European glory and union followers wondering whether any Welsh side would reach the final again, as the Cardiff club team did 11 years ago.

Scarlets players, management and fans had a belief it was going to be a case of third time lucky at the semi-final stage of the Heineken Cup.

However, the truth of the matter was this was ultimately a wider margin of defeat than in their previous last-four appearances.

Their 31-28 defeat against Northampton in 2000 and their 13-12 loss to Leicester two years later were true heartache.

But they couldn't complain this time because the Tigers were the better side and far more clinical.

Scarlets had their moments but didn't take all their chances while Leicester's strike-rate had to be admired.

They were provided with too many easy points while the Scarlets had to work hard for every morsel.

Scarlets trailed for all but four minutes of the match. Andy Goode fired Tigers into the lead with a second-minute penalty and they steadily built a 16-3 lead.

But the Scarlets carefully crafted a much-needed and morale-boosting try for Mark Jones just before half-time.

Better was to follow in the 51st minute when another lengthy build-up created a touchdown out wide for hooker Matthew Rees.

Stephen Jones magnificently converted from a wide angle and they were 17-16 in front. Bingo, the dream was back on.

Not for long, though, as it took them less than two minutes to lose it.

Full-back Barry Davies made a crucial error when he ran into a wall of Leicester defenders rather than kick for position.

After all, Scarlets were in front and could have played for position; put their foot on the ball, so to speak.

But Davies was collared and turned possession over. Scarlets were in dire trouble with centre Regan King racing back to cover for the absent Davies.

Goode saw the inviting space behind the Scarlets' defensive line and chipped over the top for Shane Jennings.

The flanker gathered and stepped inside the struggling King as the Kiwi slipped. Goode converted and it was 23-17 to the Midlanders.

They had accounted for Ospreys in the final of the EDF Cup the previous weekend and there was no way the twice-European champions were going to give this one up.

Scarlets didn't have an answer although it must be said they lacked variety in their game, big names like Jones, Dwayne Peel and captain Simon Easterby getting sucked in to trying to do too much.

Whereas Goode put in teasing and intelligent chips, Scarlets became too predictable as they strived to get the ball to star centre Regan King or wide as much as possible.

Perhaps it was because of the pressure the Leicester eight were putting them under at forward that forced them to attempt to run virtually every time they were in possession.

Leicester coach Pat Howard was bullish afterwards, claiming, 'We knew, if we played well, we would win. Scarlets are a very good side but, if our defence stood up, we were going to be in the final.'

Interestingly, Howard revealed the key match for them in Europe this campaign was against the Blues at the Millennium Stadium last October.

They played their get out of jail card then to steal a pool match they should have lost 21-17.

'Of all our wins this season that was the biggest because we had lost at home to Munster the previous weekend and were in trouble,' explained Howard. 'We went to Cardiff with a lot of people having written us off, were down and under pressure but pulled a win out of the bag.'

Scarlets backs coach Robert Jones, the former Wales captain and British Lions scrum-half, claimed Leicester's experience of picking up trophies was crucial in deciding the outcome.

'They've got a lot of people in their set-up who have won major titles, whether it's the World Cup, Six Nations, EDF Energy Cup or English Premiership,' said Jones.

'The Tigers don't play pretty rugby but it's so simple and so effective. And their work at the breakdown is superb. They keep people and the ball off the ground and don't allow the opposition to put themselves in a position to present good quality ball.

'We got caught up quite a few times individually going into the contact area as opposed to collectively.'

Scarlets had been the only unbeaten team left in Europe but it didn't count for much against the Leicester machine.

As Jones said, 'We couldn't hold on to the ball. We worked hard to get in the lead but were a bit jittery. We weren't as fluent as we have been throughout the season.

'There was a lot of error in our game and they were more clinical.' Goode racked up 23 points for the Tigers, scoring a try after beating off an attempted double tackle by Gavin Thomas and Rees, converting all three touchdowns and putting over four penalties.

Irishman Jennings and lock Louis Deacon, who reaped the rewards of relentless forward pressure, also crossed.

So it's the first all-English final. It could even be the last because their top clubs intend to boycott next year's tournament.

Without them and France's best, the brutal truth is the Heineken Cup will be a second-rate event.

But at least our teams will have more of a chance of winning it!

Page 2 - How Scarlets rated - by Andy Howell