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Jalibert (10', 25'), Poirot (13'), Barlot (19'), Jacobs (38'), Uberti (59'), Mousques (66'), Bielle-Biarrey (69')
Tries
Anderson (8', 63'), Thomas (29')
Jalibert (11', 13', 39'), Carbery (67', 70')
Conversions
Hawkins (9', 30'), Costelow (64')
On the. face of it, Scarlets being the only Welsh region to lose last weekend is a bad look; one outlet referred to their result out in Bordeaux as ‘chastening’ whilst the other 3 were praised for their brave victories against the backdrop of adversity that torments Welsh rugby at every turn.
However, the test the men from Llanelli faced on the French Atlantic coast cannot be compared to what their compatriots faced in the 2nd tier competition. UBB rested some of their stars for this one but still fielded the world’s two best wingers in Louis Bielle-Biarrey and Damian Penaud whilst Matthieu Jalibert was so majestic he was rightly awarded man of the match after just 50 minutes on the pitch.
The Scarlets are not the first to concede 50 in the beautiful city of Bordeaux and they certainly won’t be the last, but what will be the real disappointment is they came away with nothing. A try bonus point was not only possible for Dwayne Peel’s men but it would have been a fair reflection of the game.
The result was never in doubt but there were periods where the Scarlets were on top, most notably in the first half where, with the score at 24-14, they were hammering on UBB’s line only for a dubious penalty against Ellis Mee for contact in the air to halt their momentum. Moments later, a poor kick allowed Penaud, LBB and Jalibert to work their magic and conjure a try from nothing.
The final 10 minutes was all Scarlets, too: having brought impact players such as Sam Lousi, Archie Hughes, Sam Costelow and Macs Page off the bench, it looked like the 4th try was only a matter of time. Each time, however, UBB survived by the skin of their teeth thanks to either Scarlets errors or timely interventions by some of their world class players.
Playing good rugby with nothing to show for it is becoming the story of the Scarlets season. For every positive action there is a negative one - a dropped ball, a fumbled lineout, a daft penalty. If the likes of Blair Murray, Taine Plumtree and Gareth Davies had played, would the bonus point have come? Probably.
That is not to say those who did play were poor - the majority of the side acquitted themselves more than adequately. The half-backs will be disappointed in their contestable kicking, but there was plenty of quality moments - most of which came from fin-of-the-season signing Fletcher Anderson.
As the travelling fans sat in the departure lounge on Sunday night, they will have reflected on an unforgettable experience in one of Europe’s great rugby cities and a team performance that was both encouraging and disappointing at the same time. In the past 2 matches the Scarlets have shown glimpses that they can be a Champions Cup side, the challenge now is for them to turn the ‘almost’ moments into just ‘moments’.
