HEINEKEN CUP POOL SIX Scarlets v London Irish: SEAN LAMONT does not lament his summer move from Northampton to Scarlets even though the Saints are making an impact at domestic and European level while the Welsh region are struggling on both fronts.
The Scotland wing, who was 29 yesterday, has played at outside-centre for most of the season because of an injury to Regan King and his midfield partnership with Jonathan Davies, the Welsh international, will be crucial if the Scarlets are to record a Heineken Cup double over London Irish at Parc y Scarlets tomorrow.
The Scarlets have next to no hope of making the knock-out stage of the Heineken Cup, despite winning their opening two group matches, including that against London Irish in Reading, but victory over the Exiles would put them in contention for a place in the Amlin Challenge Cup quarter-finals.
“It is disappointing to be in this position considering the start we made,” Lamont said. “We did not show up in either of our back-to-back games against Leinster and we cannot use injuries as an excuse. We let ourselves down, but we showed in our first game against London Irish what we are capable of and that is the standard we should be reaching every week.
“I have no regrets about moving to Wales. It was time to leave Northampton and I fancied a change of country. The set-up and coaching at the Scarlets are excellent and we have a young squad here that should make us a force in two or three years.
“Playing in the centre has certainly added to my game, but my passing is such that I will never be anything other than a wing playing in the midfield and I know that Scotland will not be considering me as a centre.”
The midfield axis of Stephen Jones, Davies and Lamont is the Scarlets’ greatest strength, and they will miss Jones, the Wales and Lions outhalf, tomorrow: he hoped to play but has been ruled out for at least another week because of the shoulder injury he sustained against Newport Gwent Dragons last month, a concern for Wales who announce their Six Nations squad on Monday.
The Scarlets are one of the few teams in Britain this season that have not overdosed on kicking.
“It is important that players are able to think for themselves rather than by spoon-fed by coaches,” Lamont said.
“One of the first things Andy Robinson did when taking over as Scotland coach was to empower the players, setting up leaders in attack and defence. The more rigid a game plan, the less players will react to changing circumstances in a match and their overall understanding will suffer.
“Andy quickly made his mark with Scotland and we can look forward to the Six Nations with confidence. Rugby in our country has been in the doldrums for a few years and stagnating, but what is significant is that we now have strength in depth in a number of positions and that has not really been the case for a while. Nothing inspires a player more than knowing that someone is out to get his jersey.
“The victory over Australia last November showed what we are capable of and Scottish rugby needs us to build on that. The players have a massive respect for Andy and it will be good to link up with the squad again, if I am selected, but first I will be doing everything to ensure that the Scarlets interest in Europe does not end this month.”
The Scarlets provided one of the shocks of this season’s Heineken Cup when they won at the Madejski Stadium in October.
“Irish may have under-estimated us that day, but they will not make that mistake again,” Lamont said.
“We know we can beat them and we have to take the field with that belief.
“We may not be going on to the next stage of the Heineken Cup, but the Challenge Cup is very much a target. That means beating London Irish and following it up with success in Brive the following week. The Scarlets may not be fancied in Europe at the moment, but we soon will be with the talent we have coming through. I signed a three-year contract with the region and have no regrets.”
Guardian Service
SCARLETS: D Evans, M Stoddart, S Lamont, J Davies, A Fenby, R Priestland, M Roberts, I Thomas, K Owens, D Manu, L Reed, D Day, R McCusker, J Turnbull, D Lyons [capt]. Replacements: E Phillips, P John, J Corsi, D Welch, J Edwards, L Williams, D Newton, G Maule.
LONDON IRISH: D Armitage, P Hewat, E Seveali'i, S Mapusua, T Homer, R Lamb, P Hodgson, C Dermody, D Paice, F Rautenbach, N Kennedy, B Casey [capt], R Thorpe, S Armitage, C Hala'Ufia. Replacements: D Coetzee, D Murphy, P Ion, K Roche, G Johnson, J Rudd, P Richards, C Malone.
Referee: Jeromé Garces.
