Here are the latest rugby headlines on Friday, April 7.
Urios: Scarlets favourites tonight
The Scarlets will have history, form – and maybe even referee Wayne Barnes – in their favour when they host Clermont Auvergne on Friday, according to the French club’s head coach Christophe Urios.
Clermont may have won away at Bristol in the last 16 of the European Challenge Cup, but Urios reckons his team’s quarter-final tie at Parc y Scarlets will be much tougher.
The match referee is Barnes, the Englishman who is widely regarded as the world’s best, but not an official Urios reckons his team really understand.
“Once again, we will not be favourites,” said Urios, looking ahead to a match which is being broadcast live on S4C. “We play away from home, against a team that has a long series of home successes - with notable convincing victories against South African provinces - and with an English referee to whom we will have to adapt. Winning a European match away from home is complicated.
"The Scarlets are one of those teams that have a real collective spirit and they are capable of making individuals flourish and emerge within that team. It would be a trap to believe that what awaits us with the Scarlets will be easier than we faced in Bristol. The Scarlets carry the pride of Welsh rugby and Welsh rugby is not in as bad a state as we are led to believe.
“Away from home, we need a lot of solidarity and a strong collective. The victory against Bristol has given us confidence that has allowed us to work well, but we know it will also be very tough against a Scarlets team that has a collective strength."
Clermont have won the Challenge Cup three times – in 1999, 2007 and 2019 – but they are not the force of old. They currently lay 10th in the French Top 14 with just nine victories in 21 league matches so far this season and they dropped down from the Heineken Champions Cup to the second tier Challenge Cup after finishing ninth in Pool B following three successive defeats. They did, however, rouse themselves to come from behind and win 33-26 at Bristol Bears in the round of 16 to earn their trip to Llanelli.
Scarlets head coach Dwayne Peel said: "Clermont have a massive history in European rugby and have some quality, star names. That is what it is all about, a big team, a big crowd, it is a challenge we are all excited about. It will be a great occasion.”
Scarlets v Clermont will be broadcast live on S4C on Friday night from 7.55pm.
Dai Young bids for Cardiff European semi-final
Dai Young has warned that Cardiff must be at the very top of their game when they travel to Treviso for Saturday’s Challenge Cup quarter-final.
The Blue and Blacks booked their place in the final eight after coming out on top in a thrilling round of 16 clash against Sale Sharks last week. But Young is fully aware of the threats posed by a strong Benetton outfit who have already toppled the likes of Ulster, Glasgow, Scarlets, Connacht and Stade Francais at home this season.
“If you look at some of the wins they’ve had at home, they’ve beaten some of the best teams there. They’re a quality team and we know that to our cost last year, where we went out there and got our pants pulled down,” explains the director of rugby.
"They’re a fantastic team who play some great running rugby and we’ve got to make sure we’re somewhere near our best. If we’re not then we don’t win - it’s as simple as that.
"Last year’s loss has got to hurt a little bit, because if not then we’re in the wrong game. We’ve looked at those areas we didn’t get right and the areas we need to get right.
"But that game was as much about us as it was about them. It was certainly a game too far for us and we went there and didn’t compete in any area. We were second best and looked a team that was low on energy and it was a game too far.
"That’s not the case this season, going into it now, but we know we’re going to have to be at our best because they play really good rugby. If you’re not on your mettle defensively, if you don’t win collisions, if you don’t win the gain-line and they start getting quick ball, then they can throw it about and score tries. They’re scored a lot of tries at home."
Young also believes there is plenty of motivation heading into Saturday’s encounter, as the squad target a third European crown for the club.
The former Wales prop added: “The big thing we’ve talked about this week is that unfortunately right across the regions, there’s lot of boys that are moving on and Cardiff is no different. A lot of these players have been together for a long time, so there’s a lot of emotion there. They want to try and do something together and this is probably the last opportunity this current group has to try and achieve something."
Dee bids to banish injury woes
Wales and Dragons hooker Elliot Dee is determined to put the injury frustrations of the last 18 months behind him after signing a new deal with his home club.
He joined the likes of Harrison Keddie, Jack Dixon, Joe Davies, Lloyd Fairbrother, Ollie Griffiths and Ashton Hewitt in agreeing new contracts with the Men of Gwent last week.
The 29-year-old – a product of the Dragons academy system – has already clocked up an impressive 142 games since his senior debut back in 2016 to stand 13th in the all-time appearance maker charts. But the Wales international hooker concedes it has been a difficult time with injuries over the last two campaigns – with the front row restricted to 10 appearances this season.
Dee is now eager to now put that behind him and look forward with renewed determination to achieve under Dai Flanagan.
“It’s been a tough 18 months with a lot of niggles, and I haven’t been able to hit my stride,” he said. “I am happy with where we are at the Dragons and I enjoy going to work again, and I am proud to wear the jersey. I think the most games I’ve strung together over the past two seasons is five, that’s not enough to find form.
“I still feel I’ve got a lot to offer in a Dragons jersey with a lot of milestones to hit. I want to keep playing with the boys that I came through with and see some good times."
“The contract is definitely a weight off my shoulders,” he added. “It’s been a long time and a lot of uncertainty; I don’t just have me to think about now but a young family. There is nothing better than playing for your home club that means a lot to you, so I intend to give it my all for the next two seasons and then hopefully go again.”
The Dragons are currently licking their wounds after shipping 70 points against Glasgow last weekend. Dee says the result is still stinging, emphasising those sorts of scorelines should not be happening at this level.
“We are pretty upset with the performance. There were patches where we scored tries but that is one of the first times this season where we have been out there and felt totally outclassed,” said Dee.
“Fair play to them, they showed why they are one of the best teams in our league and that performance from us has probably been coming after the tough times in Welsh rugby. We’ve got to stick together and get ourselves out of a big, big hole.”
He added: “There needs to be a lot of work in pre-season to try to catch up with the rest. There is no question about effort, we give our all every time that we pull the jersey on, we fly into everything.
“I am still so proud to be part of this group and represent my home region but we have to get better. That’s brutally honest, we can’t have losses like that happening.
“As players, there is a lot of accountability on us for falling away from other nations in the league. We don’t want to be coming up to places like Glasgow and losing heavily.
“We want to fight our way up the table. Nobody goes to work to do a rubbish job, we all want to win and we have the right environment now. We just have to knuckle down and get it right.”
Steyn's World Cup in the balance
South Africa star Francois Steyn's World Cup hopes hang in the balance after the veteran underwent surgery on a knee problem.
The veteran, who is aiming to play in his fourth World Cup, sustained the damage in the Cheetahs’ 32-7 Currie Cup win over the Bulls in Bloemfontein late last month.
The injury has now been revealed as worse than first feared.
Cheetahs coach Hawies Fourie said: “He’ll be out for about two to three months.
“Frans had a scope on his knee and the prognosis was worse than the doctor initially thought. It will be a substantial period on the sidelines. Our medical team believes it will be for most of the Currie Cup anyway.”
“It’s a bit of a blow to his hopes, he really wanted to go for the World Cup,” Fourie added.
“He’s worked really hard since the start of the year after his previous injury, [and] dropped quite a bit of weight. It’s a big setback for him, hopefully he’ll recover soon and maybe there’s still a bit of a door open for him, but we don’t have contact with the Bok coaches currently.
“We’ll see how it goes, but he needs to recover and get on the field again first.”
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