Treviso v Scarlets

The Scarlets travel to Treviso this weekend, after getting the news that they will be without Josh Turnbull until Christmas as he has to have an operation on his shoulder.

Scarlets:

Dan Newton, Lee Williams, Nick Reynolds, Gareth Maule, Liam Williams, Aled Thomas, Ruki Tipuna, Iestyn Thomas (Capt), Emyr Phillips, Rhys Thomas, Lou Reed, Damian Welch, Rob McCusker, Richie Pugh, Ben Morgan.

Replacements: Craig Hawkins, Phil John, Rhodri Jones, Craig Price, Johnathan Edwards, Gareth Davies, Adam Warren, Dale Ford.

Treviso:

Ludovico Nitoglia, Tommaso Iannone, Ezio Galon, Luca Morisi, Brendan Williams, Kris Burton, Alberto Chillon, Marco Filippucci, Francesco Minto, Manoa Vosawai, Benjamin Vermaak, Antonio Pavanello, Augusto Allori, Enrico Ceccato, Michele Rizzo

Replacements: Diego Vidal, Matteo Muccignat, Carlo Fazzari, Valerio Bernabò, Gonzalo Padrò, Willem De Waal, Simon Picone, Alberto Di Bernardo



argh oh my goodness, Scarlets and BBC had kick off as 3pm but aparently that's local time and it kicked off over half hour ago!

Just checked latest scores and it's 0-3 to the Scarlets after a Newton penalty.

Will try and update scores as much as I can. Ymlaen Sgarlets.

3-3 now showing as the latest score (I'm having to rely on the Beeb for updates )

Ehhhh, you're not going to like this then.

10 - 3, Nitoglia try and Burton conversts. Just gone half time.

http://www.rabodirectpro12.com/matchdaylive/

10-3 to Treviso, after a Nitoglia try that Burton converts and tis now HT.

oh ffs you mean we conceded a try in the 40th minute?? typical of us

That's what I said!

10 - 10 after just a couple of minutes in the second half. Little Liam Williams get the points.

Why would a family called Williams name their child a name that is short for William?

booom! yes Scarlets best way to start the 2nd half da iawn!

me thinks you might be getting Liam confused with Lee there greybeard Lee is the little one, Liam is the really young one, but is a fair bit taller!

It's only his third pro12 game, that's little. He could be 6' 5" and I'd still be condescending

haha fair enough

bah treviso with a penalty 13-10.

Reed off for Edwards, that's a bit of a weird one, guess McCusker might move up to 2nd row?? strange.

try from Treviso, by a Brendan Williams 20-10 after conversion.

How long is left in the game?

erm just under 20mins I think.

Ach sure it's still in the balance then. Treviso are tough to chase the game against though.

yeah, 67 mins and we miss a penalty. only about 10 mins left. We'll do very well to get a LBP from this.

FT 20-10

da iawn to Treviso, but it looks like our season is continuing to limp on. We are struggling so badly without our internationals

Tough lines. I know the feeling myself. We have Treviso next week and we need to turn it around!

hard luck, rugbydreamer. I wouldn't be too down, Treviso at home is tough no matter when you play them.

rugbydreamer wrote:FT 20-10

da iawn to Treviso, but it looks like our season is continuing to limp on. We are struggling so badly without our internationals

Don't worry rd:
You won't get relegated.

aye I know, I'd have been more than happy with a lbp to be fair, just not nice to come away with nothing.

Portnoy wrote:

rugbydreamer wrote:FT 20-10

da iawn to Treviso, but it looks like our season is continuing to limp on. We are struggling so badly without our internationals

Don't worry rd:
You won't get relegated.

no, but I don't want us to put out HEC qualification in jeapordy, we need every point we can.

rugbydreamer wrote:

Portnoy wrote:

rugbydreamer wrote:FT 20-10

da iawn to Treviso, but it looks like our season is continuing to limp on. We are struggling so badly without our internationals

Don't worry rd:
You won't get relegated.

no, but I don't want us to put out HEC qualification in jeapordy, we need every point we can.

Don't worry rd. You have to be really dreadful in the Rabo not to get a a shot at the Heiney.

Who's playing Glasgow/Edinburgh nest week? I wouldn't fancy that one.

not really Portnoy, only the top 3 Welsh regions go through and each season we're all getting closer and closer results wise and most in the top half of the table. It was a real battle last season and it's only going to get harder.

Scarlets are playing Edinburgh at home and Dragons are playing Glasgow away. 2 very tough matches.

How many are you missing to the RWC rd?

Not wanting to re-start an old discussion, but I don't quite see why the Rabo/Magners/Celtic League don't adjust their rules somewhat.

I don't think they need to adjust them Portnoy, they're working just fine as they are imo.

We are missing: Manu, Knoyle, Jones, Priestland, Scott Williams, John Davies, George North and Sean Lamont. And add to those Matthew Rees, Turnbull and Stoddart who are all injured.

so 11 players. We've got a fair few injuries to our other squad players too. We're down to the bare bones, we didn't have the biggest of squads to start with! but then, there are a lot of teams in the same position as us.

Portnoy wrote:How many are you missing to the RWC rd?

Not wanting to re-start an old discussion, but I don't quite see why the Rabo/Magners/Celtic League don't adjust their rules somewhat.

Well if you don't see after all the times we've debated this issue I've got to admit it I've got reservations about starting it up again

Notch wrote:

Portnoy wrote:How many are you missing to the RWC rd?

Not wanting to re-start an old discussion, but I don't quite see why the Rabo/Magners/Celtic League don't adjust their rules somewhat.

Well if you don't see after all the times we've debated this issue I've got to admit it I've got reservations about starting it up again

So I won't.

Treviso starting to look pretty handy this season.

Artful_Dodger wrote:Treviso starting to look pretty handy this season.

Playing domestic leagues during World Cups is ridiculous.

It's all mainly a diversion and a distortion.

No it's not it gives the fringe players game time.

Artful_Dodger wrote:Treviso starting to look pretty handy this season.

They are, but with a world cup as well as a HEC tournament it will be very hard for them to maintain a constant standard. The key for them will be to target all their home games and try to sneak the odd away win. That could be enough to get them into contention for a play-off.

But to be honest I can't see it happening, they tailed off at the end of last season, they're not used to playing with such consistency week in, week out. I expect to see them becoming a real handful next season, but not this one.

rugbydreamer wrote:FT 20-10

da iawn to Treviso, but it looks like our season is continuing to limp on. We are struggling so badly without our internationals

It's the internationals in the pack that are the problem, too many of them aren't puling their weight and as your backs are the Scarets U16 team, you are leaking too many tries. Hopefully things will improve for the Scarlets sooner rather than later.

what internationals in the pack? Iestyn and Rhys Thomas yes, but our front row isn't a problem. Otherwise it was just McCusker. It's not like we're overbriming with international standard players in the forwards.

They do need to improve but then I don't know how they performed today, I haven't seen it, it could have been a much improved performance.

I'm surprised you aren't spouting off again about us being so rubbish we should go and play in the Welsh Prem.

Well if you take away Manu, though Rhys is better anyway.
Rees who was injured with Wales, as well as reserve Hooker Owen's who is missing from your first choice pack?

Truth be told this Scarlets pack should be kicking teams up and down the park, yet they are being dominated by reserve packs, and their youth team backs clearly aren't ready to step up to this level behind a beaten pack.

Iv'e never had a pop at the area or the region, the issue is with the players not performing. The results they have had have been embarasing to be honest.
The reality is you should of beaten Connaght, should of crushed Leinster and should of beaten Treviso, the pack you have should of guranteed those wins.

Did you ignore the bit where I said front row wasn't a problem for us? Where we struggle is 2nd row, and it's been that way for years.

They may have been embarrasing to you but they haven't to me, as I started this season with realistic expectations of what we could achieve. Our pack are not capable of kicking any teams up and down the park and we haven't been able to for years. I don't know why all of a sudden other people have started to think differently.

We don't know how the Scarlets pack went today. It could have been like against Aironi where they actually played well and won a lot of ball but our backs couldn't do anything with it. We just don't know.

We had an opportunity to beat Connacht yes but considering how difficult it is to win out there, a LBP is not to be sniffed at. Treviso is fast becomming one of the hardest places to travel to, so no guaranteed victory there. The Leinster match was a disappointment.

Our pack was never going to guarantee us anything. Last season they gave our backs scraps to work off, that's why we were so good. Yes it might be closeish to first choice, but our first choice pack has always been pretty poor compared to others.

I think Alyn you are just guilty of unrealistic expectations of the Scarlets. As I've said on previous Scarlets articles, they are performing just as I expected at the start of the season. I obviously hope for them to win, but I'm not going to kid myself about what they're capable of.

And to be perfectly honest Alyn, suggesting last week that we were so rubbish that we should be playing in the Welsh prem, is having a pop.

Based on what I saw last week I think too many of their players are playing at too low a standard, they simply weren't up to Rabo direct standard, and I'm not having a pop for fun, I have been to see the Scarlets this season remember.

Neither do I think I'm being unrealistic, looks at how many players some of the Irish teams have lost, even Treviso and Aironi have lost far more than the Scarlets, this was the perfect oppertunity to take advantage and get off to a flier, yet instead of grasping a great chance, the Scarlets are under performing and playing poor rugby.

I think Shingler has been great at lock for you this season, he is light weight as you have pointed out, but is mobile and great at timing his line outs.

The biggest concern to me is Ben Morgan what happened to the Scott Quinell clone?

We were never going to get off to a flier with 11 first team starters missing, and I maintain that those who thought so were being unrealistic.

And not much wrong with Ben Morgan, he's still spilling the ball in contact as he did all last season, except this season he is also being double marked because people know he's so dangerous. He needs to improve in the technical areas of his game, but then we knew that anyway.

Dreamer I believe it is more like 17 men missing (and one new signing).

To be honest we could name a decent side of missing players

1. Ken Owens (WC - only missing 1 prop I think)
2. Matthew Rees (WC)
3. Deacon Manu (WC)
4. Lou Reed (inj)
5. Dom Day (inj)
6. Sione Timani (WC - lack of backrows missing)
7. Aaron Shingler (inj)
8. Josh Turnbull (inj)

9. Tavis Knoyle (WC)
10 . Stephen Jones (WC)
11. Morgan Stoddart (inj)
12. Scott Williams (WC)
13. Jon Davies(WC)
14. George North (WC)
15. Rhys Priestland (WC)

(Sean Lamont, Dan Evans, Andy Fenby unavailable also)

I'd forgotten about Timani in all the excitement of Wales.

I was thinking about our backs as well and the amount we have missing, in comparison to how small our squad is. Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think we have a single international in our backline.

We have 7s internationals but I can't think of any full caps.

Just thinging about lack of experience in our backs at the moment. If Wales get to the RWC final (big if) and North plays in each match (which would be expected) he would end up with more appearances in a Welsh International jersey than in a Scarlets shirt.

And shoulder surgery - all before his 20th birthday - it's madness.

It also means that as North, JD2 and Priestland will have played most of the games then they'll be rested until Dec, with just enough time to get match fit before going to the 6N.

I think we need to think about another short term signing from somewhere!

but where Smirnoff? we have not the money

It's crazy that Georgie might have played more games for Wales than the Scarlets though. Proper strange that.

I'm sure if we rent George North out to Cari for a few months while he's recovering from the WC we'll get enough money for someone's wages!

I ain't too sure we need to make signings as such. If you think about it we developed this crop of players, and really blooded them over the last few seasons, and lets remember that bar last season we have had a number of poor seasons. Now that a number of those players are missing we are having to blood even younger players, which must be a good think for the future season, even if it means we end up in the Amlin next season (which I honestly doubt will happen).

I agree SS we def don't need huge signings or a marque signing, but what I meant was another Tipuna style short term loan just to give the backs some experience and a little bit more depth - I'm also quite worried that Newton doesn't have any real competition and isn't as strong as Shingler or obviously Priestland who we had as cover when Jones went away with Wales for the past 3 seasons.

It's probably take a couple of years for Jordan to come through as well.

I see what you meant. I guess the problem is that neither Rhys Jones isn't up to Newton, and Aled Thomas (from what I have seen) is not near the mark either.