Davies relishes Llanelli home comfort - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

Davies relishes Llanelli home comfort

01/02/2009 12:09:29 PM Comments (0)

Llanelli Scarlets coach Nigel Davies told the Welsh region to make the most of home advantage after they marked the official opening of the Parc y Scarlets with a 40-24 win over the Barbarians.

Saturday's six-try success meant Llanelli remained unbeaten at their new home ground.

"We want to make this place very difficult for teams to come here and, regardless of who it is, we want to win games," Davies said.

On the weekend before Wales begin the defence of their Six Nations title, the Scarlets were without several first-choice players.

"The big thing for us was that our boys stepped up individually and put in a big performance," Davies enthused.

"There were a lot of young boys out there and it all augurs well for the future. I think when we do get a fully-fit squad there is going to be a lot of competition.

"It's going to raise the bar within the group and it's going to be very, very positive.

"In front of a near-capacity crowd, which was brilliant, we turned up and put on a show."

Barbarians coach Eddie O'Sullivan said the invitational side, who gave Australia a match to remember before going down 18-11 at Wembley in December, still had a place in the professional era.

"In some ways professional rugby these days is about winning at all costs and sometimes the entertainment value has dropped because of the need to win," O'Sullivan said.

"But Barbarians rugby is more about playing the game and expressing ourselves. We didn't win today but you can't fault them for trying hard," the former Ireland coach added.

Parc y Scarlets, a 15,000 capacity stadium which cost STG23 million ($A50.44 million) to build, replaced Llanelli's old home of Stradey Park which staged its last match in October.

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