Leinster wary of a Scarlets side with nothing to lose

RTÉ News​

a day ago

It may only be five weeks since the Scarlets last beat Leinster, but head coach Dwayne Peel says his team face the ultimate challenge if they're to pull off a repeat this afternoon.
The Welsh side were 35-22 winners against Leinster in Round 16 of the URC in late April, a surprise win which ultimately proved the difference as they secured a spot in the play-offs, and next season's Champions Cup.
As good as the Scarlets were in Llanelli that afternoon, the cavaet is that Leinster fielded a largely second string side, given it was a week before their Champions Cup semi-final against Northampton.
Of this afternoon's team for the quarter-final, only five Leinster players started the corresponding game at Parc y Scarlets.
And with his side now facing a wounded animal, Peel knows the size of the challenge against the Scarlets
"There's no greater task than going to Dublin and we're looking forward to that challenge," Peel (below), a former assistant coach at Ulster, said this week.
"We won't shy away from it, you've got to have confidence in your own group when you go there.
"As much as they have some world-class names in their group, we've got some pretty good players and we're going to go there and give it the best we can."
While Scarlets are significant underdogs, they do have history of pulling off some shocks in Dublin. In 2017 they became the first team to win a Pro12 semi-final away from home when they defeated Leinster at the RDS, and followed that up with another surprise win against Munster in the final at the Aviva Stadium.
Eight years on from that incredible and unlikely title, the west Wales club have fallen from grace, and the prospect of them no longer being in the URC beyond 2026 is in play, with the Welsh Rugby Union reportedly considering dropping a professional side, or potentially merging two regions together.
With all that going on, their achievement in getting back into play-off rugby is all the more impressive, and their return to Champions Cup rugby next season is a much-needed boost.
With that secured, they travel to Dublin with absolutely nothing to lose.
"It's going to be a great occasion and a case of embracing it," Peel added.
"It's not about chasing five points, it's knockout rugby and it's all on the day.
"We want to go further, we want to push a great team in Leinster as far as we can."
With their Champions Cup defeat to Northampton still fresh in their memory, Leo Cullen insists there will be no complacency as they look to win three more games to end their four-year wait for silverware.
Such is their fear of being seen to be complacent, the Leinster coach was reticent to go into details about whether or not Garry Ringrose would be fit for a potential semi-final next week.
"Unfortunately Garry Ringrose is ruled out this week. We'll see what he'll be like if there is another week, but it's the here and now," he told RTÉ Sport.
"We're only planning for now this weekend. We've already fallen into that trap, maybe looking too far ahead.
"We are fully focused on Scarlets, and the medics will do what's best for Garry."
And Cullen (above) says his side are determined to give their supporters something to celebrate this season.
"This tournament will always have importance for us, regardless of what had happened up to this point. If we were in Cardiff [for the Champions Cup final], whether we were the winners or losers over there, we would still have the same mindset going into the quarter-final, because this is the bread and butter, the club.
"This is, when we go to the fans, trying to sell the season tickets, this is what makes it up.
"We feel a responsibility to the fans that have supported us unbelievably well over the course of the season, so hopefully they will see that in the performance of the team, because the team feel we need to put in a proper performance to reward the fans that turn up to watch us."