Dwayne Peel insists something is stirring again at the Scarlets – thanks to the Sospan Army.
The head coach at the Llanelli region is feeling confident ahead of their European Challenge Cup last 16 tie at home to French club Brive on Friday night.
Firstly, Peel can rightly feel upbeat having turned his region around midway through the campaign with nine victories in their last 11 matches in all competitions.
Secondly, the former Wales scrum-half believes that form has revived the atmosphere at Parc y Scarlets Stadium, making it an intimidating place to visit for the opposition.
“It would be great to have really vocal support again from the supporters, as we did last week during the win over the Sharks,” says Peel.
“When we play well, the support we get from the fans is fantastic and makes such a difference to us. We feed off that and then the performance itself is a way of repaying those supporters for coming along.
“One thing we have spoken about – and which I have wanted since I came back here – is to have that belief that whoever comes to our place, with this crowd behind us, we always fancy our chances.
“When Scarlets sides have been good in the past, they have always taken the field with that feeling.”
The Scarlets finished top of Pool B after winning all four of their pool matches, scoring 124 points, and they have the competition’s leading try-scorer in Steff Evans with five.
The former Wales wing is bang in form, as he proved last week with his two tries against the Sharks, who were beaten 32-20, despite the presence of 10 Springboks in their squad.
Brive snatched the final qualification spot in Pool A by beating Cardiff 37-24 in Round four, their only Challenge Cup win so far this season in four games.
They have recorded a points difference of -91, compared to the Scarlets’ +67, so most of the pointers tend towards a home win.
But Peel adds: “Brive will come here and make it difficult for us. They are going to be very physical.
“They have excellent line-out defence, one of the best in the Top 14, and they fight hard at the breakdown.
“We have prepped well and are expecting a tough challenge, especially up front. They will be a tough nut to crack.”
On Saturday, it will be the turn of Cardiff as they bid to make the quarter-finals by overcoming English Premiership title challengers, Sale Sharks, at the Arms Park.
Cardiff won three of their four pool matches, whilst Sale dropped down to the Challenge Cup after Heineken Champions Cup home-and-away defeats to both Ulster and Stade Toulouse.
But Sale are likely to be slight favourites as they are currently second in the Premiership and enjoyed a recent notable victory over leaders, Saracens.
It will be an emotional night for Cardiff players, staff and supporters with pre-match tributes planned in honour of their former chairman and benefactor, Peter Thomas, who died earlier this week.
Earlier on Saturday, the Dragons will big underdogs away at Glasgow Warriors, where the Scottish side gained runners-up spot in Pool A behind Toulon.
