Matt Sherratt’s side had enjoyed the better of the spoils in the 24-15 loss a fortnight ago but that would be only half the story as ill-discipline and poor finishing cost Scarlets dear after a solid start.
That result either side of a battling draw in Italy and heartbreaking 24-23 loss to Connacht last time out has left Peel’s side in 14th position with just two points from three outings with many thoughts of ifs and buts for the former Wales scrum-half.
Whilst the disappointment is clear to see, Peel feels with a few tactical tweaks and more clinical execution his side can come away with the victory this weekend.
“There are mixed feelings [in the camp], said Peel. “There were obviously some pleasing moments to the performance [against Connacht].
“We are kicking ourselves a bit because we gave them points. 14 points to start with, then we fought our way back into it only to fall behind before half-time.
“We can’t keep giving sides soft points like this. We have been guilty of that, and it is an area we will have to improve on. We are competing hard though, and I feel it is becoming closer.
“From that perspective, it was disappointing for everyone. That’s two games now we have lost it in about three and a half minutes of rugby.
“I don’t think it’s a confidence issue, we are bold on both sides of the ball. We have grown into games a lot and are fighting hard to stay in them.
“There is learning and game management to be done as a group to understand when we are in those tight situations and how we kick on.
“The learning is in that and how we see out those games when we go ahead for this young group, but we can take a lot from getting back into it after giving away some soft tries.
“I don’t want to talk about it too much because we could be sitting here with three wins under our belt.
“We are getting better and if we keep doing that, we will turn those narrow defeats into wins.
Scarlets inflicted a domestic double over their Welsh regional rivals last season including a memorable 29-23 victory in the Welsh capital in December.
Lying in fifth place in the standings after two wins from three, Peel feels the Blues will be a different proposition and a dangerous prospect after last weekend’s hammering against Glasgow.
“There is a good rivalry there between two teams that want to play rugby, and it will be a good occasion, I’m sure,” continued Peel.
“They are going to be hurting from conceding 50 last week. They did though come back and scored some nice tries in the second half.
“These games are always competitive fixtures. The one up here was and when you look back at the game two weeks ago, we put ourselves in a strong position and we didn’t see it out.
“I think there are areas tactically that we can improve on. If you look at last time we started well, and our discipline let Cardiff into the game a bit.
“We are expecting a physical battle. We spoke about their break-down work and how they slowed a lot of our ball down.
“We need to be better in that area, but we are excited. It’s a fast track there and we always seem to have good travelling support when we go to Cardiff. It’s always a good atmosphere.
“There is usually a sea of red All the west Wallians living in Cardiff come out to support us. Hopefully, this week we can put on a good performance for them.”
Scarlets: Ioan Nicholas; Tom Rogers, Johnny Williams, Eddie James, Blair Murray; Ioan Lloyd, Gareth Davies; Kemsley Mathias, Marnus van der Merwe, Henry Thomas, Sam Lousi, Max Douglas, Josh Macleod (captain), Dan Davis, Taine Plumtree.
Replacements:
Ryan Elias, Alec Hepburn, Sam Wainwright, Alex Craig, Carwyn Tuipulotu, Efan Jones, Sam Costelow, Macs Page.
[Lead image: Scarlets Rugby]
Scarlets need to get rid of Peel and get a new manager