Dwayne Peel spoke to the media on Thursday to preview Saturday’s BKT United Rugby Championship round four clash against Cardiff at the Arms Park.
Here’s what Dwayne had to say
What was the debrief like after the Connacht defeat?
DP: “Mixed if I am honest, there were pleasing aspects to the performance, but we are kicking ourselves a bit because we gave them 14 points to start with, fought our way back into it only to go behind before half-time. We showed good character to get back straight into the fight. To get ahead I thought we applied pressure on Connacht, who are a team renowned for keeping the ball in hand and holding onto the ball, we forced good turnovers and played some good transition on the back of it, but going ahead with four minutes to go we couldn’t see out the game, which was obviously disappointing. We have been in two winning positions in the final minutes of games and have let them slip. That is the learning with this young group. We can take a lot from the game – we can’t afford to keep giving sides soft points, that is an area we need to tidy up, obviously, but we are competing and I feel it is getting closer.”
The Arms Park is a place where there’s been good memories for Scarlets players and fans in recent years
DP: “They are always competitive fixtures like the one here. It is a fast track and we always seem to have a great travelling support there. All the West Walians living in Cardiff come out to support us. It is always a good atmosphere and a sea of red; hopefully it will be the same this week and we can get a win for them. It is a good healthy rivalry, two teams who like to play rugby, it will be a good occasion.”
Is there any injury update?
DP: “It is the first game for a while we haven’t had someone out from the previous game. Vaea (Fifita) should be back for the Glasgow game at the end of the November, which is the first game back after this block. Joe (Roberts) is almost back to where he is running again, it won’t be too long for him, hopefully in the next block at some point.”
Is confidence an issue at the moment?
DP: “We could easily be sitting here with wins under our belt. When I go through the metrics of our performance, are we getting better? yes we are and if we continue to progress on that line we will turn those narrow defeats into wins. That is how I am looking at it, we have got to be positive around that. You don’t get carried away with a lack of confidence or overconfidence, whatever it is, it is about whether we are getting better week on week on certain areas we are focusing on. If we are not we need to react on the training field and get it right. That is how I am looking at it.”
Do back-to-back games add extra edge within the playing group?
DP: “There is no question about that, two weeks in between games adds a different bit of spice. It has happened a couple of seasons now where we have had close games in succession against Cardiff, it also frees up a bit of the coaches’ time in terms of the scouting!!”
What do you have to change tactically from the loss at home to Cardiff?
DP: “Tactically there are a few areas we can improve on. If you look at the previous game, we started well and our ill-discipline let Cardiff into the game. They had a couple of penalties and they managed the field well and got some good scores at the end of the first half. I have mentioned it before, I thought Dan Thomas was excellent and Josh McInally as well in that breakdown area. The big thing for us is that we get our own house in order. It is easy to get carried away with opposition at this time of the season, we need to look within and see what we need to get right and let them change things for us. There is not too much difference in our approach in how we are going about things. We are confident in what we have planned over the off-season, it is about putting that into practice and nailing our execution.”
It must be nice to have selection dilemmas with players returning from injury?
DP: “It is nice to have actual selection discussions on a Monday morning. Depth is what we are after; it is important we find time for players to have opportunities and 23-man squads are so important now. If you can get depth it allows you to tactically change your game and also bring some power off the bench. It is an area where we feel we are getting closer to where we want to be.”