Saracens may have made it 10 wins in a row with their historic win over RC Toulon at Stade Felix Mayol in the opening round, but the Scarlets also notched an impressive win over Sale Sharks, bringing an end to a horrendous run of eight successive defeats.
When Phil Davies took over as head coach in west Wales he masterminded a run to the club’s third semi-final. Their seven successive victories included a doubles over mighty Toulouse, London Irish and Ulster before they knocked-out the reigning champions Munster in the quarter-finals.
They were then beaten 33-17 in the semi-finals against Leicester Tigers in Leicester, but not before they had worked they way into the lead 10 minutes into the second half. The Tigers then hit back and Andy Goode scored 23 points to steer his side into their third final in seven years.
“We faced some massive challenges that season, not least the fact the players had to adapt to a new coach after having Gareth Jenkins in charge for the previous 10 seasons in Europe,” said Davies.
“When the draw came out, a bit like this year with Saracens, there were people saying ‘Oh no, not Toulouse again’. They had lost four times to them in the previous two seasons.
“But when you play against the best teams in Europe it is a shot to nothing. You have to go out there and be bold and brave and believe you have got nothing to lose and everything to gain.
“The Scarlets have a game and a back line to trouble any club team in the world and I’m sure that Wayne Pivac and his highly talented young coaching team will have been working on ways to bring their game to bear on the Saracens.
“Everyone knows how strong and powerful the Saracens are – they are capable of blasting teams off the pitch with their forwards. But, just like any team, they don’t like being moved around the pitch and being put under pressure themselves.
“We had to start with a tough away trip to London Irish back in 2006 and we kicked-off our campaign with a bonus point win. We then had to tough it out to get two home wins over Ulster and Toulouse before we headed to France and won 41-34 having been 14 points down at the break.
“They scored four tries, all from Clement Poitrenaud, and we got five in the end. We keep playing at high tempo, took some risks, but always believed in ourselves and our game.
“It may have seemed ‘Mission Impossible’ – they hadn’t lost a home pool match since the first round in 2000 – but we found a way to concentrate on ourselves, on our game and making life uncomfortable for them. Anything can happen in a two horse race!”
Scarlets have beaten London Irish, Harlequins, Northampton Saints, Leicester Tigers and now Sale Sharks in recent European campaigns and now they are targeting another English scalp. Saracens, meanwhile, will be hoping to match the Aviva Premiership record in Europe of 11 successive wins achieved by Leicester Tigers between 2000-2002.
Davies’s team of 2006/07 were the last Scarlets side to reach the knock-out stages of the top-tier of European rugby. He also took Leeds Tykes into Europe, coached Wales Under 20, Cardiff Blues and led Namibia into last year’s Rugby World Cup finals.
“The Scarlets have notched some famous victories in Europe in the past, but a win this weekend would rank right up there among the best of all time. It was pretty special beating Toulouse on their own patch, but knocking-out Munster at a packed Stradey Park in the quarter-finals was perhaps my favourite moment,” added Davies.
“I’m sure that this week will be all about fine tuning their approach, working on accuracy and relishing the opportunity that lies ahead of them. These are the moments that players relish and I just hope the Scarlets pack can secure enough primary possession to give the backs a chance to show what they’ve got to offer.
“Nobody expects anything of them, but I’m sure they will be expecting a lot of themselves. Not many teams win at Allianz Park, so someone is due a win there – why not the Scarlets!”
