Here are your rugby morning headlines on Saturday April 29.
Scarlets ready to seize chance after Peel training changes
The Scarlets are ready to banish their Euro semi-final hoodoo as they go head-to-head with Glasgow in front of a passionate Llanelli crowd tonight.
The men in red have lost four out of four of their previous Euro semi-finals, two of them to last-gasp kicks when Dwayne Peel, today's coach, was playing for them.
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This time they are determined to get over the line in their Challenge Cup clash, which would set up a May final in Dublin against either Toulon or Benetton.
Wales and Lions prop Wyn Jones believes the Peel factor as coach, rather than scrum-half, can sway the day this time for the Welsh side. He admits he can’t quite believe how his head coach has dealt with so many obstacles in a campaign like no other and revealed he changed things when things weren't working earlier in the season.
“I don’t know how he’s done it really, with everything that has been going on this season,” said the Scarlets loosehead. “It’s been a really difficult season, with so many things to deal with, but Dwayne has been really focused and the squad of players have responded really well.
“To have this reward, of being one game away from a final and the potential of winning some silverware, is a fantastic achievement but we have to take the last step.”
The Scarlets announced that 15 players are leaving at the end of the season, including household names like Leigh Halfpenny and established international such as Aaron Shingler and Rhys Patchell.
Such has been the chaos and turmoil in the Welsh game over the last few months, that similar-sized clear-outs and shakedowns are happening at the other three regions.
For a time it looked as if the cash crisis and contractual quagmire in Wales was sucking the Scarlets downwards. At the turn of the year, they had won just three games – against Zebre, Bayonne and the Cheetahs.
But Jones has been part of a squad under Peel which suddenly recovered to win nine of their next 11 matches, including Challenge Cup knockout ties against Brive and Clermont-Auvergne.
“Dwayne changed a few things around in training that weren’t working so well and the players responded,” said Jones. “He’s a good man-manager, which is a big part of the modern game alongside the technical side. You have to be able to get players to perform at their best at times when it really matters.
“Glasgow are a really good team. They don’t kick very much and they like to run with ball in hand, so it should be a good spectacle. But it will also be a great event – a big European game at Parc y Scarlets, these are the things we wanted to have when we joined.
“I remember those European semi-finals the Scarlets made 20 years when I was young, watching on. Today it’s our turn and we’re really looking forward to it.”
Scarlets v Glasgow is on S4C's Rygbi Ewrop from 5pm today.
Glasgow aim to silence Welsh crowd
Franco Smith has challenged his in-form Glasgow side to subdue the home support as they bid to pull off an away win over Scarlets and reach the Challenge Cup final.
The Warriors, who have lost only one of their last 17 matches, head to Parc y Scarlets as slight favourites to eliminate their United Rugby Championship rivals in their first European semi-final.
Fourth-placed Glasgow finished 10 places above Scarlets in the regulation URC season and defeated them 12-9 at Scotstoun in a hard-fought league match a fortnight ago, but head coach Smith is wary of the galvanising effect home advantage could have on the Welsh side.
"The Scarlets will be favouring their chances in front of their home supporters," he said.
"We as a team know this, and therefore it presents an opportunity to take on this challenge that will ask the very best of us. We have prepared well this week for what we know will be a hard battle in front of a big Welsh crowd."
Ex-Cardiff Blues boss Baber returns to Wales
Former Cardiff Blues coach Gareth Baber is returning to Wales after Edinburgh announced his departure as attack coach.
Baber helped lead the Arms Park side for two years next to Justin Burnell when David Young left the club in 2011. He was also Wales under-20s assistant coach and led the Fiji Sevens team to Olympic gold in Tokyo three years ago.
His Edinburgh exit could potentially pave the way for Mike Blair to remain at the club when he steps down as head coach to pursue a career as a specialist attack coach.
However, it will be fascinating to see where Baber next ends up. He will be in demand in Wales, given his coaching pedigree.
Baber joined Edinburgh in December 2021 as skills and assistant coach and confirmed he is coming back to Wales.
Baber said: "I've thoroughly enjoyed my time in Edinburgh and I've built connections with coaches, management and players that will last. It's a brilliant club and I'm certain this group will bounce back next season.
"I have, however, spent the last 18 months away, so it felt like the right time to relocate home and bring an end to my time in Edinburgh. It's been a truly brilliant experience and I can't talk up the club enough."
Leinster ready for heavyweight Euro showdown
Leinster coach Leo Cullen expects Toulouse to take his team on physically in today's clash of the Heineken Champions Cup heavyweights.
Four-time European champions Leinster tackle a French club with a record five European titles under their belt.
And the semi-final clash at Dublin's Aviva Stadium will be one of the tournament's classic encounters if it matches up to its billing.
"They have a big physical pack, will be very direct, when they have the ball, confrontational," said Cullen.
"They kick the ball a fair amount. I know Toulouse's reputation is free-flowing, off-loading rugby, but I think they will be pretty pragmatic, particularly at the start of the game.
"I think they will try to take us on physically, which is good because that is what we want as well, a good physical challenge for our guys."
Leinster beat Toulouse comfortably in last season's semis to secure their place in the showpiece final, where they narrowly lost to La Rochelle. And it is going to require another huge effort in Leinster's quest for an Aviva Stadium return on May 20, when the winners will face holders La Rochelle or sole English survivors Exeter, who clash in Bordeaux tomorrow.
Saracens veteran title and Euro winner calls it a day
Saracens' veteran flanker Jackson Wray will retire from rugby at the end of the season.
Wray, 32, is only the fifth player to make over 300 appearances for a club he first joined as a teenager. He has won four Gallagher Premiership and three Heineken Champions Cup titles.
"After 15 years at this fantastic club, it is the right time for me to retire from rugby and pursue interests that I have been building towards during my career," Wray said.
Wray is looking to lift the Premiership trophy for the sixth time at the end of the campaign, with and Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall saying he "embodies everything that is good" about the club.
"He has had an extraordinary impact and influence and is hugely respected and admired by players and staff, past and present," said McCall.
READ NEXT:
Wales star misses huge Euro semi-final and axed ace sends World Cup message to Gatland
Where the 16 Cardiff leavers are now going and what the team will be now left with
Fifteen Scarlets players to leave as Leigh Halfpenny and Rhys Patchell exit in 'tough' announcement
