‘History can repeat itself for Scarlets’

Nov 16 2007 by Delme Parfitt, South Wales Echo

THE man who once distracted Lawrence Dallaglio to the point where Wasps fell to an famous Heineken Cup reverse at Stradey Park, is backing history to repeat itself this weekend.

Ian Boobyer got on the nerves of the English giant when helping Llanelli claim a crucial 25-15 triumph against London Wasps that allowed them to progress to the last eight in 2000.

Now, the former Wales A openside reckons Simon Easterby’s side notch victory in tomorrow’s clash, a must-win affair for the home side after their 48-21 defeat in Clermont Auvergne last weekend.

“I see the Scarlets winning,” said Boobyer.

“Before this tournament started, I put money on them to win the group after having a chat with Simon (Easterby), who reminded me the Scarlets always did the business in Europe and were up for it again.

“It isn’t easy because there are a lot of clubs with big packs, especially from England, and it can be a struggle for ball for the Welsh sides.

“But I think the Scarlets have it in them to come through. They have players who know how to win these matches and with the crowd behind them I think they’ll be okay.”

The flanker’s dust-up with Dallaglio has gone down in Stradey legend, the big man losing his cool during a game when Boobyer’s nuisance value was underlined like never before.

“We needed to win by 10 points having lost up in London earlier in the group,” recalled Boobyer.

“Dallaglio had a go at us up there. He was taunting Rupert Moon and me after a try, saying: “Go back to Wales, little boys.”

“I thought to myself: ‘You wait till you come to Wales, mate’.

“Stradey was payback time. I just tried to spend the game in Dallaglio’s face and he didn’t like it.

“We had a ding-dong and it seemed to carry on pretty much for the whole match. When we beat them, it was a great result for the club and a great feeling.”