From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Llanelli Scarlets
Founded	2003
Location	Llanelli, Wales
Ground	Stradey Park
Capacity	10,800
Chairman	Stuart Gallacher
Coach	Phil Davies
League	Magners League
2005-06	6th
Home colours		Away colours
Official website
www.scarlets.co.uk

The Llanelli Scarlets are a Welsh professional rugby union team based in south-west Wales. They play in the Magners League, as well as competing in the EDF Energy Cup and the Heineken Cup.

The Llanelli Scarlets were founded in 2003, as one of the five (now four) teams of the regional rugby era that was introduced by the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU). The Scarlets are represented by the Llanelli RFC, Carmarthen RFC, Llandovery RFC and Narberth RFC. They play most of their games in Llanelli, at Stradey Park.

Contents 1 Formation 2 2003-present 3 Home ground 4 Results and statistics 4.1 Celtic League 4.2 Celtic League Cup 4.3 Heineken Cup 4.4 Anglo-Welsh Cup 5 Players 5.1 Current squad 5.2 Former 6 Honours 7 References 8 External links

In 2003, the WRU controversially elected to reduce the current top tier of Welsh professional rugby from nine clubs into five regions, attempting to mirror the successful formats in Ireland and the Southern Hemisphere countries of South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

Initially it was planned to have a region playing at Stradey Park, with players coming from Llanelli, Swansea and Neath.^[1] This was then modified to have Llanelli and Swansea merging whilst Neath joined with Bridgend. Llanelli were opposed to both plans and requested stand-alone status.^[2] Eventually Llanelli (along with Cardiff) were allowed to stand alone as a region.^[3] On July 7 2003 the Llanelli Scarlets region were officially launched.^[4]

Llanelli Scarlets officially represent the whole of West and North Wales, based mostly around Llanelli although attempts have been made at taking the club to other outposts such as Wrexham. Ownership of the region is held by the owners of Llanelli Rugby Football Club.

Largely drawn from the very successful Llanelli RFC side of the preceding year, the Scarlets carried that success forth into their inaugural season. They reached the last eight of the 2003/2004 Heineken European Rugby Cup and finished the Celtic League season as champions by four points over Ulster. In the Heineken Cup the Scarlets were in pool four along with the Northampton Saints SU Agen and Border Reivers. The Scarlets won five of their six matches, losing just the one to French club SU Agen, thus they finished at the top of their pool. They were defeated by French club Biarritz Olympique at home, 10 to 27 in the quarter final.

However the following season was less successful. Hit by injuries and retirements, as well as the transfer of influential fly-half Stephen Jones, the Scarlets finished fifth in the league and were not as successful in the Heineken Cup as the previous season. The Scarlets won two of their six pool games in the Heineken Cup which saw the Northampton Saints and Stade Toulousain finish ahead of them. However they did reach the final of the Celtic Cup, where they lost to Munster.

In the 2005/06 season, the Scarlets again failed to qualify from their Heineken Cup group and finished 6th in the Celtic League. They did however find more success in the English and Welsh EDF Energy Cup. After finishing at the top of their pool, they defeated Bath by one point in the semi-finals to proceed to the final. They went down 26 points to 10 to the London Wasps at Twickenham. For the Heineken Cup, it was a similar story to the previous season, with the Scarlets winning two from six fixtures, and they finished third in the pool again with Stade Toulousain and the London Wasps finishing ahead of them. However their sixth placing in the Celtic League secured a place in the Heineken Cup tournamentfor the 2006/07 season. They also re-signed Stephen Jones and full back Barry Davies extended his contract to stay with the Scarlets. The Scarlets' Director of Rugby, Gareth Jenkins, had been appointed as Wales' national team coach, having been with the region since it's inception. Phil Davies, then coach of Leeds Tykes replaced Jenkins at the Scarlets.^[5]

At the first home game of the 2006/07 season, an information sheet was handed out to supporters with details of the clubs financial situation. Currently there is opposition by local residents of plans by the Scarlets to move to a new stadium and sell their current ground for housing development. The information sheet stated that due to delays caused by the opposition and benefactors pulling out of the club it is "extremely unlikely that (Llanelli Scarlets) could survive to the end of the present season unless other financial assistance is found" which would result in "the loss, probably for all time, of professional rugby in West Wales." Local residents believe however that the infrastructure, such as roads and schools, will not cope with 450 new houses being built on the site. On November 28 2006, the regions secured investment from Tim Griffiths, a London-based businessman.^[6]

In the 2006/07 Heineken Cup, the Scarlets recorded one of the most famous victories in their brief history as a region, defeating Toulouse 34-41 away despite twice trailing by 21 points. This was an unexpected victory despite the Scarlets having won their first three games on the 2006/07 competition. They later secured their place in the Heineken Cup Quarter Final with a convincing 11-35 win over Irish province Ulster at Ravenhill. The Scarlets went on to become only the fifth team in the history of the competition to win all their pool matches (they would be joined two hours later by Biarritz).

The Scarlets play most of their home matches at Llanelli's Stradey Park (which is also the home of the Llanelli RFC). However, they have played several games in North Wales, at Wrexham's Racecourse Ground.

The 2006/07 season is planned to be the last season played at Stradey Park, which will subsequently be demolished for the building of apartments. The Scarlets will play every home game of the 2006/07 season at Stradey Park to commemorate the historic ground. The new home of the Llanelli Scarlets and Llanelli RFC is due to be built in Trostre. The new stadium will cost £45million to be constructed and will be a 13,500 venue. It is thought that the new stadium will improve the teams finances.^[7]

Season	Pos	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Bonus	Points
2005/2006	6th	22	10	1	9	7	57*
2004/2005	5th	20	9	0	11	10	46
2003/2004	1st	22	16	1	5	10	76

• 8 points gained from "Free Weekend" System.

Season	Round	Match
2004/2005	Final	Munster 27-16 Llanelli Scarlets
2003/2004	Qtr-Final	Llanelli Scarlets 12 - 14 Connacht

Season	Pool/Round	Pos	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Bonus	Points
2006/2007	Pool 5	1st	6	6	0	0	3	27
	Qtr-Final	Llanelli Scarlets 24 - 15 Munster
2005/2006	Pool 6	3rd	6	2	0	4	4	12
2004/2005	Pool 3	3rd	6	2	0	4	5	13
2003/2004	Pool 4	1st	6	5	0	1	3	23
	Qtr-Final	Llanelli Scarlets 10 - 27 Biarritz Olympique

Season	Group/Round	Pos	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Bonus	Points
2006/2007	Group C	3rd	3	1	0	2	1	5
2005/2006	Group C	1st	3	3	0	0	0	12
	Semi-Final	Llanelli Scarlets 27 - 26 Bath Rugby
	Final	London Wasps 26 - 10 Llanelli Scarlets

Nat. Position Player FB Morgan Stoddart FB Garan Evans FB Barry Davies WG Dafydd James WG Mark Jones WG Darren Daniel WG Alec Jenkins CE Regan King CE Gavin Evans CE Matthew Watkins FH Stephen Jones FH Ceiron Thomas FH Rhys Priestland SH Dwayne Peel SH Liam Davies SH Clive Stuart-Smith SH Lee Williams

Nat. Position Player PR Craig Dunlea PR Iestyn Thomas PR John Davies PR Phil John PR Ian Jones PR Deacon Manu HK Matthew Rees HK Aled Gravelle HK Craig Hawkins HK Ken Owens LK Inoke Afeaki LK Vernon Cooper LK Adam M. Jones LK Scott MacLeod LK Lou Reed FL Gavin Thomas FL Simon Easterby (captain) FL James Bater FL John Edwards FL Dafydd Jones FL Jon Mills N8 Alix Popham N8 Robert McCusker N8 Nathan Thomas

Nat. Position Player FB Lee Byrne - Currently playing for local rivals Ospreys CE Leigh Davies FH Mike Hercus - Later with the Newport Gwent Dragons; has now returned to the USA at Belmont Shore FL Dave Hodges HK Robin McBryde - Current Welsh Forwards Coach SH Michael Phillips - Moved to play for Cardiff Blues. WG Wayne Proctor - Current record holder for most tries in Welsh league and record try scorer for Llanelli RFC), current Llanelli Scarlets Fitness Coach. N8 Scott Quinnell - Former Llanelli RFC coach and Scarlets forwards coach CE Mark Taylor - Moved to play for Sale Sharks in the Guinness Premiership. LK Chris Wyatt - Currently playing for Munster.

• Celtic League 2004

1. ^ "WRU drops provincial bombshell", BBC News, 2003-02-20. Retrieved on 2006-12-05.
2. ^ "Moffett scraps northern expansion", BBC News, 2003-01-08. Retrieved on 2006-12-05.
3. ^ "Layman's guide to Welsh rugby's crisis", BBC News, 2003-03-12. Retrieved on 2006-12-05.
4. ^ "Scarlets launch regional vision", BBC News, 2003-07-07. Retrieved on 2006-12-05.
5. ^ "Scarlets unveil Davies as coach", BBC News, 2006-08-14. Retrieved on 2006-12-05.
6. ^ "Scarlets 'saved' by new investor", BBC News, 2006-11-28. Retrieved on 2006-12-05.
7. ^ Scarlets’ fans speak up on stadium move. scarlets.co.uk. Retrieved on 16 June 2006.

• Llanelli Scarlets official site (English) (Welsh)

• Llanelli Scarlets on WRU.co.uk
• Llanelli Scarlets on BBC.co.uk
• Llanelli on itsrugby.co.uk

v • d • e Rugby union in Wales
Federation:	Welsh Rugby Union
National team:	Wales national team • Wales Sevens • British and Irish Lions
International Competitions:	Rugby World Cup • Six Nations Championship • Heineken Cup • European Challenge Cup • European Shield • Celtic League • Powergen Cup • Rugby World Cup Sevens • IRB Sevens World Series
Domestic Competitions:	Welsh Premier Division • Welsh Cup • ASDA League
Welsh Regions:	Cardiff Blues • Llanelli Scarlets • Newport Gwent Dragons • Ospreys
Welsh Premier Division teams:	Aberavon • Bedwas • Bridgend Ravens • Cardiff • Cross Keys • Ebbw Vale • Glamorgan Wanderers • Llandovery • Llanelli • Maesteg • Neath • Newport • Pontypridd • Swansea Sharks