Scarlets playing to restore Euro pride

Jan 13 2008 by Simon Roberts, Wales On Sunday

PHIL DAVIES admits his depleted Scarlets face an uphill battle to restore some pride against reigning Heineken Cup champions London Wasps, this afternoon.

The Scarlets coach, after making the semi-finals last season, has seen his side fail to clinch a single win in the pool stages this season.

The Scarlets are without 11 frontline players for the daunting trip to High Wycombe.

The likes of Stephen Jones, Dwayne Peel, Matthew Rees, Alix Popham, Regan King, and Morgan Stoddart are all missing for this clash.

So an inexperienced and new-look Scarlets side will be massive underdogs against Lawrence Dallaglio and company.

“This is a great opportunity for some of our younger players,” said Davies. “But there is no doubt that this has been a desperately disappointing campaign for us and nobody has been shy in sharing their opinions on that.

“This year’s competition has been a real rollercoaster for us for many reasons.”

The Scarlets campaign has been undermined by injuries to key players.

Wales duo Stephen Jones and Alix Popham, for example, have only played five out of 17 games for the Scarlets this season.

“Last year we prepared very well and this year, for a number of reasons, we haven’t done that,” said Davies.

“We have had a few bumps in the road but there haven’t been any car-crashes.

“We have just lacked the consistency in our game and have had a tendency to lose our way after 65 minutes.

“But we will learn from this experience. I have certainly learnt a lot about the players and the staff. All I do know is that we will be a much better team in 18 months or two years because of this whole experience.”

Scarlets: C Thomas, D Daniel, M Watkins, G Evans, M Jones, R Priestland, L Davies, I Thomas, J Hayter, D Manu, A Eustace, S Macleod, D Jones, S Easterby (c), N Thomas. Replacements (from): D George, B Douglas, D Day, J Bater, G Cattle, J Davies, G Evans, P John, D Evans