SCARLETS: ‘I firmly believe we have turned the corner’: Davies proud but disappointed as Stormers fightback falls short

The Scarlets have “turned the corner”, says Nigel Davies, despite a 52-40 defeat to the Stormers in Cape Town.

His side came back from 33-14 down to draw level at 40-40, before two late tries from replacement Yaqeen Ahmed won it for the hosts.

“First of all, congratulations to the Stormers for winning what was a fantastic contest,” the director of rugby said.

‘We came here with an intent to score tries’

The Scarlets scored six tries, three of them from Wales centre Joe Roberts, and took a bonus point.

“We came here with an intent to score tries and play rugby. It has been our focus all season, and we knew we were coming to a very difficult place to play, and we had to be on top of our game.”

Before kick-off, Davies had called it one of the toughest challenges in the URC. The Stormers have now won all six meetings between the clubs.

‘Dare to be great’: the message to the Scarlets in Cape Town

“You can’t come here and admire the way the Stormers play; you have got to come here and challenge them and dare to be great. That was the message.”

“We have got to come here, and we have got to go after them, with and without the ball. I thought we did that for long periods, and it gave us a great opportunity in the game.”

The Scarlets trailed by 19 at the break. “Even at half-time when we were under the pump a bit, we still spoke about being positive, we were creating chances, and the guys came out and played some great rugby.”

‘I firmly believe we have turned the corner’

Davies says the work on the training ground is starting to show against the top sides.

“What we have been working on mentally, physically and skill-wise is to execute under high pressure and at a higher intensity so we can compete longer against the top teams, and I firmly believe we have turned the corner there.”

“There is a belief within the squad that they can do that, and the boys did that today.”

“I was delighted for them for the respect they would have gained from a lot of people because of that performance and also the confidence that will grow within the group as well.”

18-year-old Carwyn Leggatt-Jones at ten

Carwyn Leggatt-Jones, 18, started at fly-half and kicked five conversions.

“This is a fabulous place to play, and a lot of my players would have gained a huge amount. Look at our 10, Carwyn Leggatt-Jones, who is just 18 years old; that experience will be invaluable to him.”

“We had to make a few changes because of international calls, but I was confident with the depth in the squad, and a lot of these boys have been unlucky not to play earlier. I was delighted with the way they stepped up.”

‘Absolutely disappointed because we could have potentially won it’

For all the pride, there was frustration too.

“I am delighted with that performance and absolutely disappointed because we could have potentially won it. There were a couple of key moments that didn’t go our way.”

“We also put a bit of pressure on ourselves with our inaccuracies, something we have to look at, but it was a match that could have gone either way in the end.”

“I was extremely proud of what our players were able to produce today, albeit disappointed that there wasn’t more in it for us. But we move on positively to the next challenge, which is going to be tough again.”

The Bulls in Pretoria next

The Scarlets stay 16th in the URC.

They face the Vodacom Bulls in Pretoria next Saturday, 31 October, in the second game of their South African tour.