Just when it looked as though Leicester had turned the corner, Scarlets condemned them to a difficult couple of weeks in Europe before Christmas. After leaving Parc y Scarlets without so much as a bonus point, Leicester now face a double header with the champions, Toulon, just as the best side in Europe for the past two seasons are building up a head of steam.
Even after two wins in a fortnight, these are difficult times for Leicester and it says something about their continuing injury list that Stuart Lancaster could announce an England elite of 33 this week containing only one Tiger, Ben Youngs.
Scarlets have troubles of their own, with Ken Owens and Gareth Davies among the long-term missing and the Ascot-born lock Jake Ball damaging himself in the warm-up. The form Wales centre and Scarlets captain, Scott Williams also limped off after 19 minutes with the kind of leg injury that could make him doubtful for the Australia game in a fortnight.
With their new coach, Wayne Pivac, looking for that kind of ambition the main question was whether a young Scarlets pack could hold Leicester even without Dan Cole, Tom Croft, Geoff Parling and Ed Slater. The omens look pretty good early on, but the ability of Vereniki Goneva to make dents in midfield was alarming.
Within 10 minutes the lock Graham Kitchener had threatened the Scarlets line and Anthony Allen, normally the most dependable of centres, had a try for the taking before fumbling.
However, Leicester were not to be denied some points, Owen Williams landing his first penalty, but the more costly fumble came at the other end when Miles Benjamin appeared to have all the time in the world to clear what looked like a hopeful punt from Rhys Priestland.
However, instead of kicking, the wing tried to run out of defence and simply coughed up the slippery ball in front of Harry Robinson. The Scarlets wing will not receive many bigger gifts although Priestland missed the conversion and then two penalties. Steve Shingler on for Scott Williams took on the kicking duties, which will not improve Priestland’s slim Wales chances, but the replacement did land one kick from two before half-time.
A five-point lead was poor reward for 40 minutes of industry and Kristian Phillips suggested the Scarlets had been told as much at half-time. First the wing attempted to run the ball out of defence and was lucky to survive a high tackle from Brad Thorn – the Leicester lock was also lucky to escape a yellow card – before the Scarlets wing came close to wriggling his way over in the left corner.
It was passionate stuff and Pivac’s side, much as they did in Toulon last weekend, were happy to trade blows, although in something of a role reversal from the first half, it was Leicester who started to inch their way back into the game. Freddie Burns came on for Allen, pushing Owen Williams into the centre and the new fly-half made an immediate impact, setting Benjamin off down the left touchline.
The pressure did not last. Priestland returned the compliment with a kick which put Mathew Tait in difficulty and then came close to scoring himself with the deftest of breaks before twice attempting to batter his way to the line.
It was the kind of cup rugby that suggested that errors could settle things and after 62 minutes Leicester made their second expensive mistake of the evening and again it was the decision to eschew the simple which caused their difficulties. Instead of kicking into Scarlets territory, Youngs looked for a move up the short side. However, as the England scrum-half attempted to free up his hands to make the telling pass the ball was shaken free and his opposite number, Aled Davies, scooted home from 40 metres. It was the last thing both scrum halves did, both being replaced immediately.
Shingler again converted to open the lead to 12 points and that looked like it even before the mass brawl that ended the evening.
