Wales centre Hadleigh Parkes had to cancel his wedding plans to play for the Scarlets in the Champions Cup quarter-final on Good Friday.
The 30-year-old Kiwi was due to tie the knot with finance Susie back home in New Zealand this week, but instead had to postpone their big day to face La Rochelle in the biggest home game in more than a decade for the Welsh region.
Only a late intervention from Scarlets head coach Wayne Pivac averted a major clash of loyalties and saved his side from losing one of their most influential players.
“Myself and my fiancée Susie were looking at dates to get married and we decided on Easter weekend,” said Parkes.
“We just saw it was a free weekend and thought it would be a good time to go back to New Zealand and get married. It will still be summer back home and being Easter weekend more people could attend.
“We were going to get married by the seaside so it would have been a lovely occasion. But thankfully Wayne pointed out that it was the weekend of the Champions Cup quarter-finals, so we didn’t book it.
“It would have been a right balls-up if we had. We are now getting married at the end of June just outside of Auckland.”
Having coached Parkes for three years while in charge of Auckland, one of Pivac’s first actions as Scarlets boss was to recruit his former lieutenant.
The inside centre was relatively unknown to Welsh rugby fans having only been a peripheral figure in Super Rugby which took in stints at the Blues, Southern Kings and the Hurricanes.
But four years on the Huntersville man is as influential as any player in the Scarlets’ recent history and has won six caps for Wales having qualified on residency grounds.
Hadleigh Parkes. Pic: Getty Images.
“If somebody had told me when I was back in New Zealand that I would achieve all I have in Wales I would have told them they were having a laugh,” he said.
“I kind of have to pinch myself a little to make myself realise that all this has actually happened. It’s gone really well for the Scarlets and to win the PRO12 last season was amazing for the club.
“I think our form has gone up to another level when we have played in Europe. If we can beat La Rochelle it would be an amazing achievement for the club and for all. the region.”
The Scarlets have come a long way since Parkes joined in 2015. Having not qualified for the knockout stages of Europe’s premier club or provincial competition since 2007 the West Walians’ achievement in reaching quarter finals cannot be understated.
After losing their first two games in the competition they have swept aside all before them to set up a mouth-watering occasion against La Rochelle.
“The Scarlets were always in the middle of the table knocking on the door for higher honours but couldn’t quite get over the line,” said Parkes.
“But over the last couple of years we have really stepped up. Yes we are scoring some cracking tries but it’s our defence that’s winning us games.
“Our skill levels have improved across the park in terms of the interplay between forwards and backs. The likes of Rob Evans and Ken Owens are also extremely skilful and are easily capable of executing those key passes in the wide channels.
“Our training sessions are very similar to what they would be like with Super Rugby sides in New Zealand.”
The European Cup has provided the Scarlets with their fair share of heartache down the years. The West Walians have endured three semi-final defeats with two of those courtesy of freakish last gasp penalties from Paul Grayson and Tim Stimpson against Northampton and Leicester respectively.
And Parkes is expecting a brutal challenge against La Rochelle on Friday afternoon in front of record crowd of more than 15,000 at Parc Y Scarlets.
“The thing with quarter-finals is they are one-off games. They may not have done too well away from home of late but they will raise their game when they come here,” said Parkes.
“Any team can win a one-off game especially in finals footie. I think it will be a backwards and forwards game. It will be a hard game because they’ve got a lot of physical players who are immensely powerful, but we are confident we can win and go all the way in this competition.”
