Scarlets v Clermont A.

0 - 24 HT.

Live updates here:

http://matchdaylive.ercrugby.com/heineken/index.php?mobile=0

Ouch.

Strangely, there's been no score in 2nd half so far. Lee Byrne has also been subbed.

Clermont have to be favourites for the HC

Spoke too soon. Another try for Clermont. 0 - 29

Spoke too soon. Another try for Clermont. 0 - 29

Just a few observations I have made over the past few weeks. The Scarlets halfbacks form makes them the worse the team have ever had. Error strewn and no control what so ever. The backs are surprisingly impotent which may also be partly down to Mark Jones and surely this most recent debaccle finally confirms that Knoyle is certainly no scrum-half which makes his continual selection for the Scarlets and Wales baffling. Even the most one eyed coaches, Wales and Scarlets fans can see this by now??? Does he have some incriminating pictures of somebody in the WRU? Since his Neath days he has been talked up to be an international scrum half and he's been nothing but rubbish. Gareth Davies should move to the Blues, his mistreatment is shocking.

Now do the coaches assume because Earle and Snyman are South African that they're class? To me Kelly and Timane are the best 2nd row partnership and always give 100%. The defence has also become worse than the Blues defence, there is just no organisation at all. Just some concerns for you.

Or... you could have said, "The Scarlets have never had a good pack and their backs have got worse since Jones left and Priestland became 10.

Earle is by far the best 2nd row, his carrying and his tackling count are always among the best in the pack, not to mention his work at mauls and rucks areas.
Snyman workrate is not good enough i'm afraid but he does look good at times.
Timani and Kelly are ok and would deserve to be ahead of Snyman indeed.

They definitely need a Stephen Jones right now. Stats, really? He is another powder puff 2nd row. Kelly and Timane have a nice balance about them and always play like they want their jersey. They aren't helped out by three average 6's in the back row though.

McCusker was badly exposed at 8, Shingler looked very good when he came on, maybe could be an option at 8?

Completely disagree on Earle and he is certainly not powder puff, besides i would like to see Jake Ball more often.

Agree on Jake Ball. McCusker is not getting any better, he's getting worse. The three 6's I referred to are Turnbull, McCusker and Edwards. Agree with you on Shingler and he has the attributes to play number 8, speed and hand being some of those attributes. He would be doing more ball carrying so will need to add some mass to that tall frame.

With all those 6's in the squad i'm really surprised they haven't tried him out at 8, could be very good, in the same vein as David Denton the Scottish 8.

The Scarlets players should be embarrased to collect their wages. To get nilled at home is unforgivable no matter how good the opposition or how little is riding on the game. The worrying thing for me is they looked like Wales in micrcosm - no invention in attack - they could have been there til next week and still not scored a try. No plan B, no little grubbers through or chips over the top to try and turn the defence. No offloading in the tackle Just ruck after ruck every player going to ground and not getting over the gainline. Bad times out west. Please God do not let Tavis Knoyle near the Wales 9 jersey. The bloke is tup. One shining light was Shingler - why was he not starting?

PS Holley's influence showing already!

tattered: shingler is just coming back from injury, been out for a while.

the scarlets just lack leadership on and unfortunately off the field too. we've never replaced the experience of stephen jones, sean lamont, iestyn thomas etc...and that shows on the field. to compound things our coaching team painfully lack experience. We don't seem to have a real game plan, and the players don't know their roles within the team. Easterby, Wilson & Mark are trying to play this territory game through just kicking the ball down field. Feel slightly sorry for Tavis that's he's instructed to do that mandatory box kick which just isn't working. It's just giving the ball back to the opposition to rack up our tackle count even more. Easterby even without a game plan is making life hard for myself by constantly changing the team....he is the tinker man like when claudio ranieri was at chelsea. He never picks the same team twice, which never allows us to build any momentum as a team. The backrow is not balanced without a ball carrying 8 or a fetcher at 7. Easterby needs to take a risk at wales u20 Dan Thomas - or recruit a 7 in quickly.

In regards to the boks, to be fair to them they are coming off a long hard season, to play in a team that's struggling. George Earls is probably our player of the year at the moment. Like Vince stated he gets through so much work, tops the tackling count each game and his workrate is phenomenal. Possibly captain material next year and definitely an upgrade on Lou Reed. Richard Kelly has done well considering he came to Carmarthen Quins for Easterby to have a closer look at. He's a good lineout operator, and grafts hard. But at the moment he is too lightweight, and gets brushed off tackles a lot - needs some timber on him. The nutritionists at the club have him currently on this high carb diet.

The only thing in the coaches defence is that they took over at the last minute (well 3 weeks notice) when nigel davies went to glaws...and had little time to prepare in the off season. Also not all things were right at the region when they came in. For example when Wilson our new forwards coach joined the region he discovered that there was only one broken scrummaging machine(broken for months) at the region to cover the SCarlets, RFC, Academy etc.....compare that to Leicester Tigers who have 15 scrummaging machines.

Scarlets are desperate for an outside DOR to come in to assist Easterby and Mark Jones. But unfortunately it won't happen - need a proper 7, ball carrying 8 and a back up LH. Hopefully we will recruit this summer but of what quality I don't know.

Needless to say im deeply ashamed as a Scarlets fan.

What was our game plan? run into contact and kick,not even clever kicks just plain lazy loose kicks.
Knoyle is far to slow and the complete lack of ball carriers is evident.

I think JD2 ad North touched the ball 2-4 times each and they made more meters than the forwards did.

Are we doomed? well this season yes.
Can it be fixed? well yes! we need decent half backs and four hard forwards.

Should i hold my breath that the old boys club will swallow their pride and make a professional decision to axe the coach and the dead wood players?
Well im not.

Just feel sorry for the few quality players we have,they have to play along such mediocre non committed players.

Maybe they should move to France then view

I would if i was a pro player.

Problem is a lot of players just seem happy to float along.

A couple of days ago when the snow first it Wales George North posted a picture of him alone in the Scarlets gym, saying no one has bothered to turn up!
Pretty much sums up the attitude of the players,like their tackling things are optional.

If they had half the enthusiasm as North in the way they approach the professional sport they earn their wages in then im sure the score line yesterday wouldn't have been so embarrassing.

Bennett sitting in the stand with his head in his hands shaking his head said it all really.

viewtothegym wrote:Problem is a lot of players just seem happy to float along.

A couple of days ago when the snow first it Wales George North posted a picture of him alone in the Scarlets gym, saying no one has bothered to turn up!
Pretty much sums up the attitude of the players,like their tackling things are optional.

If they had half the enthusiasm as North in the way they approach the professional sport they earn their wages in then im sure the score line yesterday wouldn't have been so embarrassing.

Bennett sitting in the stand with his head in his hands shaking his head said it all really.

Maybe the picture just seemed better that way. Have you never taken a picture where you have only one or two of the dozen of people there?