A magnificent win over Leinster at Dublin’s RDS last weekend set-up a quickfire return to the Irish capital to meet Munster. The last time the Scarlets won a trophy was 2004 and Pivac believes the time is right to end the drought.
“There is a rich history at this cub and real passion in the region – we haven’t come this far just to make up the numbers. We have put in all this hard work over the past few years and it’s now all about winning the title,” said Pivac.
The news that Steff Evans will be able to play having had his unfortunate first-half red card in the semi-final rescinded has given the underdogs a huge boost.
Acting skipper John Barclay says his team will be travelling in confident mood. If his side can cope with playing Leinster with 14 men for 43 minutes, then why should they fear the Munster challenge?
“There has been a very good feeling about the place for the last few months – everyone is buzzing with excitement. We thrived during the period when the international players were away, loved that challenge, and then got better and better when the players came back,” said Barclay.
“There was no panic or distress when we went down to 14 men at the RDS. It was more a feeling of excitement because it was a great challenge for us to step up to.
“The RDS is one of the hardest places to go and win and we did that with 14 men and we also won at Thomond Park during the Six Nations. Their crowd will give them a bit of a buzz, but they will give our boys a bit of a kick as well.
“Our first few games of the season were frustrating and there was a sense of frustration growing outside the group as well. Everyone thought we had created quite a good group of players, but nobody panicked.
“It would have been very easy to do that after playing three games and losing them all. We kept plugging away and we picked up momentum at the right time. We have ground out some ugly wins, but started to play some good rugby since the weather has dried up.”
Their attacking style blew away the champions, Connacht, in Galway, inflicted a record score on the Ospreys and earned three tries at the RDS last weekend. If Barclay and co can deliver some quality ball at the Aviva then Munster could be chasing shadows as the Scarlets chase the title.
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