Scarlets vs Leinster Rugby
Pro Rugby
Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli
Saturday, 30th January 2021, 19:35
TV: Live on Eir Sports
Well it wasn't pretty or even particularly deserved, but Leinster won again last week against Munster to extend the winning run to six games over their old rivals.
Munster got great praise and sympathy in the media for their performance and overall they were the better team for sure. But they never scored again after the first ten minutes and never really looked like scoring another try. Their much-vaunted new attacking style was also mentioned but again it was hard to really discern much difference as most of their attacks were of the usual variety of one out runners.
Not that Leinster have any great bragging rights about their attacking play. A lot of it was fairly pedestrian and they also had a very slow start. Ultimately a well worked try saved the day but Leinster know they'll need to perform a lot better down the line. The win put Leinster a point behind Ulster with a game in hand. That game in hand is tomorrow evening's game away to Scarlets which was postponed earlier in November due to a Covid outbreak in the Scarlets squad.
It's been quite the drop-off for the Scarlets since the two great seasons of 2016-18 when they reached two Pro12 finals (winning one) and also reached the semi-finals of the Heineken Cup. Financial problems plus the departure of their head coach Wayne Pivac to the Wales job haven't helped. But they played some great rugby in those two seasons and from the point of view of the league it's been a shame to watch their decline as now all the Welsh regions are in a sorry state.
They've won just five out of eleven games so far this season but they won two out of three of the Welsh derbies over the Christmas/New Year period. Their coach Glen Delaney has picked a team minus their Welsh internationals who have gone into the Six Nations bubble. 20 year old fly-half Sam Costelow will make his first start in the league with Dane Blacker his half-back partner. Dangerman Johnny McNicholl switches from wing to full-back with Ryan Conbeer and Tom Prydie on the wing. Tyler Morgan and skipper Steff Hughes are the centres. Phil Price, Marc Jones and Javan Sebastian are the front row, with Morgan Jones and Sam Lousi in the second row. Scotland international Blade Thomson is at blindside flanker with Uzair Cassiem at number eight and Dan Davis is the openside.
Leinster had to add another player to the injury list last week as the remarkably versatile Jimmy O'Brien succumbed to a hamstring injury. With the seventeen players in the Ireland squad, things are pretty stretched again. However there is some great news in the return Tadhg Furlong for his first Leinster game in over a year. He packs down in the front row alongside Peter Dooley and James Tracy. Ross Molony and Ryan Baird are in the boiler room and Josh Murphy and Dan Leavy are fit to take their places on the flank with Jack Conan making his first start at number eight since his return from injury. Luke McGrath captains the team from scrum-half and he's partnered by the returning Harry Byrne. Liam Turner and Ciaran Frawley are the centres and Max O'Reilly, Cian Kelleher and Dave Kearney make up the back three. 19 year old Jamie Osborne will make his debut if sprung from the bench.
| Scarlets |
Leinster Rugby | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Teams | Johnny McNicholl | 15 | Max O'Reilly |
| Tom Prydie | 14 | Cian Kelleher | |
| Tyler Morgan | 13 | Liam Turner | |
| Steff Hughes (C) | 12 | Ciaran Frawley | |
| Ryan Conbeer | 11 | Dave Kearney | |
| Sam Costelow | 10 | Harry Byrne | |
| Dane Blacker | 9 | Luke McGrath (C) | |
| Phil Price | 1 | Peter Dooley | |
| Marc Jones | 2 | James Tracy | |
| Javan Sebastian | 3 | Tadhg Furlong | |
| Morgan Jones | 4 | Ross Molony | |
| Sam Lousi | 5 | Ryan Baird | |
| Blade Thomson | 6 | Josh Murphy | |
| Dan Davis | 7 | Dan Leavy | |
| Uzair Cassiem | 8 | Jack Conan | |
| Replacements | Taylor Davies | 16 | Sean Cronin |
| Kemsley Mathias | 17 | Ed Byrne | |
| Werner Kruger | 18 | Tom Clarkson | |
| Tevita Ratuva | 19 | Jack Dunne | |
| Carwyn Tuipulotu | 20 | Scott Fardy | |
| Will Homer | 21 | Hugh O'Sullivan | |
| Angus O'Brien | 22 | David Hawkshaw | |
| Paul Asquith | 23 | Jamie Osborne | |
| Not Considered
due to Injury |
Sione Kalamafoni, Steff Evans, Lewis Rawlins, Tomi Lewis, Dylan Evans, Jac Morgan, Tom Rogers, Pieter Scholtz, Rob Evans, James Davies, Aaron Shingler, Rhys Patchell |
Vakh Abdaladze, Conor O'Brien, Adam Byrne, Max Deegan, Tommy O'Brien, James Lowe, Scott Penny, Rory O'Loughlin, Jimmy O'Brien, Jonathan Sexton, Michael Bent |
|
| Officials | Referee: Mike Adamson (SRU), Assistant referees: Craig Evans, Dan Jones (both WRU), TMO: Jon Mason (WRU) | ||
by Jim O'Connor, © 2021-01-29
