Head coach Dwayne Peel says his Scarlets side are determined to build on an encouraging opening block of matches in the United Rugby Championship.
Friday night’s bonus-point 30-8 win over Zebre Parma has lifted the West Walians to sixth spot in the championship ladder after six rounds of matches.
There is now a four-week break as the autumn internationals take centre stage, but Peel says his players will be working hard to improve ahead of the away clash with defending champions Glasgow Warriors on November 29.
“We need to get better because we have some big games coming up after the break. The next block is big with Europe thrown into it. We will recharge, get our game right and go again against Glasgow,” said Peel.
“If you look at the block, you would have taken that (sixth place) after the first three games. There are moments in games we have grown, seeing out the game against Bulls after not doing that against Connacht.
“With the games coming thick and fast week after week and quick turnarounds, we haven’t had much time on the training field. We have a week off then we have a chance to do that and work on areas we need to get better. We are also hoping to have a few players back like Shaun Evs and Vaea Fifita, as well as Joe Roberts back in training by the end of this break. It will be good to have those guys back in the mix.”
Reflecting on the win against Zebre, Peel added: “The boys were frustrated at half-time. We made 11 turnovers in that first half and that is not good enough, so many unforced errors and five line breaks that we just didn’t finish, we need to be better than that.
“But there was also a clarity at half-time and we came out and scored some nice tries to get the job done.
“There are areas we know we need to improve on, but I was happy with the five points; I would have taken that waking up on Friday morning.”
Peel added: “The big thing for us is that we want to compete, something we said at the start of the season, we are here to compete and we have been competitive in every game. We have had some tough moments, losing the lead in Benetton, the 20 minutes in the second half against Cardiff was really poor, but apart from that we have been competitive and the results will follow.
“What I am seeing is a group of players who want to play for the shirt and that is what this club has always been about, fighting for each other.”