Keep our sights on Magners title - Peel

Mar 26 2008 by Simon Thomas, Western Mail

WALES star Dwayne Peel is aiming to sign off with the Scarlets on a high by helping them secure the Magners League title.

Peel will leave Stradey Park at the end of this season to join up with Guinness Premiership outfit Sale Sharks on a three-year deal.

But before he goes, the 61-times capped scrum-half would love to play his part in the region adding some more silverware to their trophy cabinet.

“I’m definitely keen to go out with a bang,” he said. “It would very special for me to sign off with another trophy.

“I’ve won a few leagues here and it’s a great feeling. To finish with another one would be fantastic.”

For there to be any chance of that happening, the second-placed Scarlets must beat league leaders Leinster in Saturday’s summit meeting at Stradey.

Stand-in skipper Peel will be at the helm again for that showdown, in the continued absence of Simon Easterby, and he’s well aware of just how important a match it is.

Irish province Leinster are 10 points clear of the Scarlets, with both teams having five league games left to play.

“We’ve got to win this one and we probably need a bonus point as well,” admitted Peel.

“It’s a big ask if we are honest with ourselves because Leinster are top of the league and crammed full of internationals.

“It’s going to be a massive test for us, but we are on our home patch and we are looking forward to it.

“It’s an equally important game for them. Both teams are out of the Heineken Cup, so the league is the big target we’ve both got left.

“It’s going to be a massive encounter and one of those games you really look forward to playing in.”

After hosting Leinster, the Scarlets face trips to Cardiff and Glasgow before rounding off their season with home fixtures against Munster and Edinburgh.

“We’ve got to go to the Blues and Glasgow, so it’s not going to be easy, but everyone has got a tough run in,” said Peel.

“Hopefully we can stake a claim by getting a win this weekend and then we’ll see what happens from there.

“We can only do what we can do, but we are very determined to give it everything we’ve got.

“We really want to finish the league strongly. Every game from now on in is crucial to us.

“Obviously people talk about our season and the disappointing European campaign, but it’s important we really go for this league and have a strong finish to give something back to ourselves for all the hard work we’ve put in and also to the fans.”

Those fans were happy enough last Friday after watching the Scarlets produce one of their best performances of the season in defeating fellow title hopefuls the Blues 35-17.

Skipper Peel said, “It was an important victory and to get a bonus point against a good Blues side was great for us.

“They are a quality team and have played particularly well this year.

“It was a very pleasing performance. We managed to throw the ball around and play some really attractive stuff, which is the type of game we want to play.

“The likes of Regan King and Gavin Evans performed really well with the ball in their hands, while the back row was everywhere. That was great for us, because we managed to get some continuity in the game.

“I thought everyone performed well to be honest. It was a good team performance.”

On a personal note, Peel was delighted to get some rugby under his belt having remained on the bench during the last two games of Wales’ Grand Slam campaign.

He only started one match during the Six Nations – against Italy – finding himself in the unfamiliar role of understudy to Mike Phillips for the rest of the time.

So he was understandably champing at the bit to face the Blues and that showed in a typically sparky performance as he set the tempo for his team.

“It was great to play and I really enjoyed the game,” said the 26-year-old Lion.

“It was good to be back with the boys and we had a great week. There were a lot of guys coming back into the fold and the week leading up to the game was very pleasing.

“We knew we had to win to stay on track. We spoke about that before the game and how crucial it was.

“We had a lot of enthusiasm about us and were really looking forward to playing. I think we showed that and really enjoyed the game. All the boys really stepped up to the plate.

“I thought our first-half performance won the game for us. We played against the wind and played some really good stuff.

“It was a good game to play in from a player’s point of view. It was high tempo and we were able to throw the ball around which we enjoy doing. Everyone was pretty pleased.

“We did what we needed to do and we need to carry on this week with a big performance against Leinster.”

Peel will wear the captain’s armband once again with former Ireland flanker Easterby – who hasn’t played for just under a month – still sidelined.

Director of rugby Phil Davies explained, “Simon’s knee is playing up a bit. We want to get him examined by the doctor and see where it is. If he’s got a problem we want to try and sort it out sooner rather than later, but we are not too sure yet.”

On a more positive note, Wales Grand Slam wing Mark Jones is set to return to regional action, while second-row Vernon Cooper could also be available again.

Leinster will arrive at Stradey on the back of last weekend’s confident 34-18 disposal of Glasgow, where they made light of the absence of their own injured skipper Brian O’Driscoll.