Competition gathers momentum for Scarlets ahead of Zebre clash

A week's recovery and recuperation is on the agenda for the West Wales region ahead of a final block of four big fixtures in the RaboDirect PRO12's final furlong.

RaboDirect PRO12 action will return to Parc y Scarlets on Saturday 12th April as the Scarlets take on Zebre in the first of three home fixtures on the home straight.

Scarlets Head Coach Simon Easterby said after his side's victory over Connacht at Parc y Scarlets: "A number of players were unavailable, more through little bumps but it was nice to get through the game without any major concerns."

"We have a week off now and it'll be nice to come back into Zebre week with a clean bill of health. The majority of the squad will be available for selection after quite a few of them missing out this week."

"It'll be great to have them available - it'll add to the competition in the squad."

With an early opening try for captain Jonathan Davies and a 25-11 lead after an hour the Scarlets had to work hard for the victory in the dying moments as Connacht came back all guns blazing.

"We showed good mindset and character to get that fourth try. Getting the five points was massive. That's the good thing about this competition moving forward, if top 6 is what we've got to get to to get into Europe it makes these games all the more interesting for everyone including ourselves."

"We missed out on a top four spot because of our early season form and losing games we should have won. The most important thing now is that we finish strongly; we have to get as many points in the bag as we can and finish as high as we can. At the moment it's all in our hands."

With three out of four of the remaining games to be played at Parc y Scarlets Easterby believes the Scarlets still have it all to play for, he went on to say: "It's still very much in our own hands. I think if we play similarly to what we did with ball in hand against Connacht then we'll be difficult to beat towards the end of the season."

Scarlets will welcome Zebre to Parc y Scarlets on Saturday 12th April, kick-off 6.30pm.