Scarlets coach Wayne Pivac refused to blame illness for his team’s sickly display in defeat to Glasgow – a result which threatens to leave Wales without a representative in the Pro12 play-offs.
The Scarlets dropped out of the top four for the first time this season after crumbling to a record 46-10 thrashing against Glasgow at Parc Y Scarlets on Saturday.
It was the region’s biggest home reverse in the tournament and it leaves them two points adrift of fourth-placed Ulster with just two matches to go.
The Scarlets had been hit by a stomach bug 48 hours before the game, which had affected 20 members of their squad.
But Pivac insisted: “Clearly some of the players weren’t 100 percent, but I’m not making excuses.
“I’m certainly not blaming that for where the game was won and lost. We dropped away in all areas in the last 20 minutes but it wasn’t the last 20 where the problems occurred – it was the first 20.
“We didn’t look after the ball in contact, turned it over in the wide channels and they took a couple of tries early on. We did well to get back into the game but our accuracy wasn’t good enough and they pushed us with their defence, forcing mistakes.”
The Scarlets drop out of the top four for the first time this season as Ulster climbed above them courtesy of a bonus-point win over Zebre, but Pivac reckons it is Glasgow who are in form at exactly the right time, with eight successive league wins.
“They’re the team to beat,” he added.
“The first try was a hammer blow because we had started the game well and were 3-0 up but we turned the ball over and they ended up scoring.
“For us it’s about qualifying for Europe – that’s our focus.
“We still want to reach the play-offs. Both those things are still achievable but finishing in the top four is dependent on other results.”
With the Ospreys still four points outside of the top six, the defeat for the Scarlets means Wales could now have no team in the top four at the end of the season and just the Scarlets qualifying for the European Champions Cup.
