THE SCARLETS’ Wales and Lions international outhalf Stephen Jones and their coach Nigel Davies were both gracious and defiant after a 32-7 defeat to Leinster in Wales and ahead of the second Heineken Cup clash between the teams at the RDS on Saturday afternoon.
The clash is likely to be a sell-out – 17,700 tickets have been sold and only a few hundred remain and are available from the Leinster store and the Spar in Donnybrook. The Irish province produced a near blemish-free first 40 minutes, scoring three tries en route to a 22-0 interval lead but struggled after the break to secure a bonus point. It arrived eventually when Seán O’Brien crossed for a fourth try.
Jones admitted: “You’ve got to give them credit. They were outstanding. They were technically very good. They were good on the floor, turned a lot of our ball over and they won the aerial battle as well, so it was a difficult night for us.
“We made a lot of silly errors and you can’t do that against good sides. The challenge for us now is to go out to Dublin. Rugby is a game played in the head and we’ve got to make sure we are mentally tough. We’ve got to look at our game this week, tighten up and be more efficient.”
Jones went on to point out the Scarlets boast a young squad and those players would learn from the experience: far from being cowed by the defeat, he expected a positive reaction. “We will learn from this and we will get better. It will be a good test of our character and our mental toughness. We will soon find out next week which guys want to wear the jersey and give 100 per cent to the cause.”
Davies suggested some honest soul searching could have a cathartic effect and galvanise the team for what he recognises will be a tough assignment. “We have got to be honest. We were second best. We will ask the players to go away and be honest with themselves and we will do the same as coaches . . . It’s a very competitive group and there’s all to play for.”
Leinster coach Michael Cheika will announce an extended Leinster squad today but with no serious injuries will be able to select from the same personnel; the continued absence of Jonathan Sexton, Luke Fitzgerald and Shane Jennings notwithstanding.
Meanwhile Munster manager Shaun Payne said the province will have a better handle on hooker Jerry Flannery’s situation after exploratory surgery on the Achilles injury that ruled him out of last Friday’s 24-23 win over Perpignan in Limerick. “There has been a lot of speculation in the media about this but realistically we have to wait until he has had the procedure before we can know for sure.” Coach Tony McGahan is expected to be able to draw from a strong squad – Flannery and Marcus Horan aside – for the game against Perpignan next Sunday.
