“Job done” was the verdict of Scarlets head coach Dwayne Peel after his side secured a crucial bonus-point victory over a physical Black Lion side at Parc y Scarlets on Sunday lunchtime.
A marathon match which lasted more than two hours saw the West Walians run in five tries in a 36-18 win to claim the maximum haul which puts them firmly in contention for qualification to the knockout stages of the EPCR Challenge after the opening two pool rounds.
“I am delighted with the result,” said Peel afterwards. “There was a bit of nervousness before the game, it was one we were expected to win, but we knew Black Lion would pose a big, physical threat.
“We wanted to keep the tempo high but there was a lot of stop-start. I thought we started brightly, we moved the ball well, then let Black Lion back into the game with some ill-discipline and in that last quarter of an hour of the first half we got dragged into a scrap and the type of game we didn’t want to play.
“We collected ourselves well at half-time, talked about taking control, playing in the right areas and then being clinical. We didn’t want to lose our heads, we needed to be together and that shows the growth in the group.
“I thought the driving maul was very good today, it gave us a couple of opportunities and it was nice to get Archie on the field and see him scoring that try. In the end, it was job done, we got the five points and now move onto next week, there’s a big week ahead of us.”
With Europe parked for a few weeks, the competition resumes in January with Scarlets making the trip across the Severn to the West Country to take on Gloucester at Kingsholm.
Next Saturday, it’s the West Wales derby and a clash against the Ospreys in Swansea in round eight of the United Rugby Championship.
Peel added: “We spoke in the changing room after the game that Gloucester is a brilliant place to go and play, one of the best places in Britain to go and play rugby and I’m sure we will have a big travelling support there.
“We have a couple of derbies first and, as I said, there’s a great week ahead of us. I am really excited about it. It is going to be the last West Wales derby at the swansea.com stadium, a nice little festive derby is always good for everyone in West Wales to get behind.”