1
Dwayne Peel: 'Ropey is probably an understatement... there was error after error'
By Simon Thomas
Scarlets coach Dwayne Peel said he was proud of the resilience his players showed as they fought back from a nightmare start to claim a vital 38-22 bonus point victory in the big derby clash with the Ospreys in Llanelli.
ADVERTISEMENT
Peel’s team conceded a try inside 50 seconds and found themselves 17-0 down after 15 minutes in front of a crowd of 11,384 – the biggest for a URC game in Wales so far this season.
But they responded with a six-try blitz to secure the spoils, three of those coming when the Ospreys were down in numbers after having two players yellow carded in quick succession.
Video Player is loading.
The Player of the Match award went to Scarlets back row forward Vaea Fifita, with Wales full-back Blair Murray among the men to touch down.
For the Ospreys, there were 12 points for try-scoring fly-half Dan Edwards, but they were to leave the ground empty handed in terms of league points.
It’s a win that nudges the Scarlets above their west Wales rivals in the table and keeps alive their hopes of making the play-offs.
Reflecting on a fluctuating contest, their coach Dwayne Peel said: “I don’t think we looked like a rugby team for the first 15 minutes.
ADVERTISEMENT
“Ropey is probably an understatement. I don’t know whether it was the big occasion, but there was error after error.
“I am proud of the resilience we showed after that. For the last 60 minutes, we were a good side.
“When the Ospreys had a few cards, we made them pay and that’s what the game is about. We managed that period well and were clinical when we needed to be.”
Commenting on his team’s play-off prospects, Peel said:
“There is a lot of work to do. We have got four games left, we probably need to win two of them, if not three.
ADVERTISEMENT
“Sides are going to take points off each other. What we can do is work on the next couple of matches and see where we are going into the last two rounds.
United Rugby Championship
P
W
L
D
PF
PA
PD
BP T
BP-7
BP
Total
1
Leinster
14
13
1
0
62
2
Glasgow
14
10
4
0
54
3
Bulls
14
10
4
0
50
4
Sharks
14
9
5
0
45
5
Munster
14
7
7
0
39
6
Ulster
14
7
7
0
37
7
Benetton
14
7
6
1
36
8
Edinburgh
14
6
8
0
36
9
Cardiff Rugby
14
6
7
1
36
10
Stormers
14
6
8
0
35
11
Scarlets
14
6
7
1
33
12
Ospreys
14
6
7
1
33
13
Connacht
14
5
9
0
33
14
Lions
14
6
8
0
30
15
Zebre
14
5
9
0
27
16
Dragons RFC
14
1
13
0
9
“We have got the Dragons at the Principality Stadium and then Leinster coming here which will be a huge occasion. So that’s two big games coming ahead.”
Giving his thoughts on the derby clash, Ospreys coach Mark Jones said: “We started the game really well. The first 20 minutes were very good from us.
“Fair play to the boys, coming away from home, they put their stamp on the game. I was dead chuffed around that.
“Then, after that, the discipline started to come into it and obviously the back-to-back yellow cards changed the whole format of the game. There were three tries, bang, bang, bang.
“Credit to the Scarlets, they exploited the extra players really well. Their identification of space and their execution was good.
“From that point on, it’s very difficult to chase the game and, in the second half, we didn’t deal with their kicking game well enough. They put us on the back fence and forced some errors.
“We have just got to learn the lessons, dust ourselves off and go again.”
On the play-off battle, he said: “There are loads of opportunities. There are four games left, every team is beating every team.
“Clearly, we have lost an opportunity to put some more points on the board and give ourselves a better chance, but the league is going to go down to the last weekend, I am pretty sure of that.”
The two teams will meet again next weekend in the last 16 of the EPCR Challenge Cup down in Swansea.
“We have to switch our minds there now and focus on that,” said Jones.
“Neither team will be short of an edge. We might have an emotional response to this, but I am sure the Scarlets will have an emotional boost from the result.”
Adding his preview, Peel said: “We have got to do it all again. It’s a big challenge for us next week to go away and repeat.
“I am sure the Ospreys players will be hurting after that and it’s going to be a good game. We haven’t won in Swansea for a long time, so we need to go after that.”
The west Wales derby was one of two URC games over the weekend where a team came back from 17 points down to secure a bonus point victory.
Was strange game, full of errors and the usual refereeing decisions. Both teams suffered as a result but Ospreys discipline was a major factor. I think this weekend will be different as the Ospreys will pick a full strength team but Scarlets will gain confidence in the fact that only Tipuric was missing in the forwards and they dominated that pack for the whole 80 minutes. If they can repeat that dominance at scrum and breakdown then the Scarlets backs will always have more to offer on the front foot.