The West Wales Derby

Tomorrow sees Parc y Scarlets host it's first west Wales derby match between the Scarlets and Ospreys. With 11,000 tickets apparently being sold it promises to be a memorable occasion - but possibly for the wrong reasons. Both teams have named relatively weak squads for one reason or another and both have just recorder arguably their worst defeat of the season.

The Ospreys come to y Parc still fresh from the agony of their Thomond Park massacre at the hands of Munster and the Scarlets enter the game after an embarrassing loss to Glasgow on home soil.

The Teams:

Scarlets:

Rhys Priestland; Mark Jones, Jon Davies, Gavin Evans, Daniel Evans; Stephen Jones (capt), Martin Roberts; Phil John, Matthew Rees, Deacon Manu, Vernon Cooper, Dominic Day, Josh Turnbull, Dafydd Jones, David Lyons.

Replacements: Iestyn Thomas, Mahonri Schwalger, Aaron Shingler, Rob McCusker, Gavin Cattle, Lee Williams, Rob Higgitt.

Ospreys:

Gareth Owen; Tommy Bowe, Sonny Parker, Jonathan Spratt, Shane Williams; Dan Biggar, Mike Phillips; Paul James, Richard Hibbard, Cai Griffiths, Filipo Levi, Andy Lloyd, Tom Smith, Marty Holah, Ryan Jones (capt).

Replacements: Huw Bennett, Adam Jones, Alun Wyn Jones, Steve Tandy, Rhys Webb, James Hook, Lee Byrne.

Referee: John Lacey (IRFU)

Both teams appear to have made quite a few questionable selections although I'm sure the players will be looking to improve on recent performances.

Braid signing in Limbo all of a sudden...

Now this is something the Scarlets could probably do without. Whilst Daniel Braid has confirmed his move to Wales it is understood that the Scarlets are yet to have confirmed the signing due to the contracts not being finalised.

Although the signs are promising, with Braid looking very positive about the move, more bad press is not the best marketing tool for the derby at the weekend. The 'national' paper of wales has jumped straight onto the 'Scarlets are a shambles' bandwagon to criticise the situation.

On a more positive note, David Lemi is still being linked to the Scarlets who are reported to be ready to outbid a 'host of English Clubs to secure his services. He'd definitely be a useful addition to our backline which has looked a little stationary of late.

Link 1 Link 2

Croeso Daniel Braid!

The deal to bring Daniel Braid to the Scarlets has finally been agreed. Braid, 28, has revealed that he has signed a deal to bring him to Parc y Scarlets next season seeing him link up with former All-Blacks Regan King and Kees Meeuws. Braid has also revealed that Deacon Manu has been keeping him up-to-date with the latest news from Wales via Facebook. Link

The news gives us fans a huge boost after the disappointment of this season, but maybe, just maybe, it's a sign of more promising things to come. A back-row consisting of Simon Easterby/Dafydd Jones, Daniel Braid and David Lyons has plenty enough to compete in the Heineken Cup. Second-row recruitment must now be a priority as a decent front-five will allow that back-row to cause havoc.

Time for blind optimism once more...

Where do we go from here?

A few sections of the Welsh media will no doubt be enjoying this. One of Wales' stand alone 'regions' struggling to get it right on and off the field. Of course, they'd be right to question the direction of the Scarlets. None of us could guess the next move of what appears to be a shambolic excuse for a professional rugby outfit currently.

In front of yet another disappointing crowd I, along with a few thousand other Scarlets fans, witnessed possibly the worst defeat since professional rugby began in West Wales. It wasn't in terms of the scoreline, but the manner in which the team lost was enough to send home the majority with over 20 minutes still remaining. A chorus of 'boos' sounded around Parc y Scarlets as the team walked off the pitch.

Where was the pride? Where was the commitment? Where was the plan? Most importantly, where do we go from here?

Nigel Davies commented on Scrum V that if we're looking for someone to blame, then blame him. Ultimately, he is the guy responsible for motivating the players, installing the game plan and ensuring that we have the structures in place on the field to eventually win the game. Can he take us forward? By now we should surely be seeing his influence on the team given that he is approaching a full year in charge. As of yet, we haven't seen any positives during his reign.

Unless we sign a few players with the ability to change the way we play then we have to fear for the future of the Scarlets. The recruitment over the last 5 or so years has been diabolical on the whole, wasting money and putting the club in a desperate light.

Off the pitch we're looking more and more amateur as the days go by. Stories of elementary mistakes in the marketing, a business plan which appears to have been out of touch with reality, especially when it comes to pricing structures and to top it all off, we've no idea of who the next CEO will be. If anyone is listening, please give us something to perk us up a bit!

Scarlets team for Glasgow named

Scarlets team to face Glasgow on 4th April 2009 is:

15 Daniel Evans
14 Mark Jones
13 Jon Davies
12 Gavin Evans
11 Dafydd James
10 Stephen Jones (Capt.)
9 Martin Roberts

1 Iestyn Thomas
2 Matthew Rees
3 Deacon Manu
4 Vernon Cooper
5 Dominic Day
6 Josh Turnbull
8 David Lyons
7 Dafydd Jones

Reps - 16 Phil John, 17 Ken Owens, 18 Lou Reed, 19 Rob McCusker, 20 Gavin Cattle, 21 Rhys Priestland, 22 Darren Daniel.

Borat to visit Y Parc?

I have to say I'm fairly happy that the Welsh Under-21's International went well at Parc y Scarlets this week. Wales ran out 5-1 winners against Luxembourg U21's in Parc y Scarlets first ever Football match.

It now looks likely that the 'experiment' will continue as the FAW have shown interest in using the ground for Wales' home friendly v Kazakhstan.

Now, I say I'm 'fairly' happy with this as I'm a passionate rugby fan and am already a little possessive over Y Parc. However, I do enjoy a little round-ball and being a proud Welsh man it's great to see a full international being planned for the ground. Of course, this also means a much needed extra revenue stream is created for the Scarlets and if the rumours are true, we need it.

Interestingly, it may be the first opportunity we get to see the extra seating installed depending on how ticket sales go for the Scarlets v Ospreys game on April 18th.

Yesh Mesh.