Dwayne Peel reckons the Scarlets can turn their Dublin disappointment into a positive when they get back in Europe’s premier tournament next season – the Champions Cup.
The Scarlets may have seen their United Rugby Championship campaign come to an end with a 33-21 quarter-final defeat to Leinster, but head coach Peel believes this is only the beginning for his developing side.
Looking ahead to next season and the challenge of Europe’s elite competition, Peel remains optimistic.
“We have qualified for the Champions Cup, which will provide another challenge in terms of the depth of our squad and the level of competitiveness every week, but I am excited by how this young team is growing and what we can achieve,” said the former Wales scrum-half.
Despite trailing 12-0 early at the Aviva Stadium, the Scarlets fought their way back with tries from Tom Rogers, Blair Murray, and Johnny Williams, unsettling a Leinster side stacked with international talent and roared on by over 12,000 fans.
Though ultimately undone by a dominant second-half display from the hosts — with Leinster tries from Jamie Osborne and Hugo Keenan proving decisive — Peel chose to focus on the bigger picture as he reflected on the progress his squad has made.
“Obviously, I am bitterly disappointed to have lost, but I am very proud of how we competed and the character, commitment and effort we showed," Peel said.
“Leinster started fast, they generated quick ball and the writing was on the wall a bit, but I felt physically we got back into the game, we rattled them with a few of big tackles and managed to go in at half-time just a point down."
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Scarlets battled admirably but struggled to escape their own half in the third quarter.
That period saw Leinster reassert control through smart territorial kicking and clinical finishing.
“The more we were in the arm wrestle I felt the longer we could put pressure on them, but credit to Leinster, in that 15 minutes after half-time they really took a stranglehold on the game with some intelligent kicking, they played smart rugby, pinned us back, we couldn’t get out of our half and they scored a couple of tries.
“It was hard to come back after that.”
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While the defeat ends Scarlets’ season, their performances over recent months — including an impressive finish to secure eighth place — earned them a place in next season’s Investec Champions Cup, a step Peel sees as a key milestone in the team’s development.
“We have been building the squad over the last couple of years and we have had to go through some pain.
“This team has a long way to go and this is just the start of the journey.
“A lot of young guys would have experienced a game like that for the first time and will grow off the back of it.
“At the start of the season we said we wanted to compete and we did that until the 80th minute of the final game.”
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That hunger and resilience have been the defining features of Peel’s Scarlets this season, even in games that didn’t go their way.
“You look at this season, there has only been two or three games, Gloucester, Munster and the Ospreys in the Challenge Cup, that we haven’t been in there competing, three games out of 24 that we haven’t been within one or two scores.”
While Leinster now prepare for a semi-final clash against Glasgow, Scarlets can walk away from this season knowing they have made significant strides.
