Brad Mooar spoke to the media this week ahead of Saturday’s Guinness PRO14 match against Toyota Cheetahs at Parc y Scarlets. Here’s what the Scarlets head coach had to say.
Brad, what has the reaction been since the Edinburgh defeat?
“A fair bit went wrong, but it is all fixable and we have had a great couple of days dealing with that.
“We have looked at all aspects, team prep, the week, on and off the field, individual preparation and mindset and we think we have sharpened up. We take the field every time expecting to win and that we can win and it is no different this week in terms of our own preparation. We need to make sure our mindset is spot on and we do the detail during the week to be ready.”
Are you expecting a big response from your players?
“I mentioned on Saturday night after the game, sometimes you just take your medicine. We allowed Edinburgh in, they were at home and they got up and were rampant and did a good job of putting us to the sword. For us that hurts and like I said, we have taken the medicine and the great thing is usually when you take medicine you get better. That is where we are at.”
How important is it to get back to winning ways this weekend?
“It will be nice to put in a performance that we are proud of and proud to show our supporters. We are back at home, we love being at Parc y Scarlets. It is a very, very good and confident Cheetahs side that is coming to play us, that is really exciting for us and means we need to be really sharp and ready to go.”
What are your thoughts on the Cheetahs this season?
“I have been impressed. They have been superb at Bloemfontein, up on the Highveld. They had good continuity through the Currie Cup and have added a class player in Ruan Pienaar who has good European experience. They have looked really cohesive in the opening weeks. They will be hurting from the Connacht result (lost 24-22) and really motivated going into this week.
“We have looked at them but made sure we have had a really good look at ourselves.
“For us, we are a happy group, a group that is really growing, getting used to each other, still learning a lot about each other and looking to improve every day. I don’t think we need to look too far forward or too far back. We need to get today right and then look forward to the next day as we move towards the game.”
What is the situation with your returning Welsh World Cup players?
“We have had discussions with the WRU performance team and Wayne Pivac and his group. It will be individual based. They are all going to come back and have some time off. There have been very intense preparation and tournament levels. You sit down individually and say what do you need? You then work together with the WRU. It is about having good partnership chats. Some will return earlier than others, the odd one may be later. Those discussions will be happening soon.”
When can we expect Blade Thomson to be back?
“We will see Blade Monday ready to go. He has had a good couple of weeks off, he has been with his family and having some good time to recharge. Physically he is in great shape, mentally it is about having that break that we all need sometimes. We are looking forward to seeing him on Monday.”
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