Cunningham: Scarlets can build momentum for GUINNESS PRO12 return

The Scarlets were without a win in three games before coming from behind to defeat London Irish 27-18 in the Anglo-Welsh Cup on Saturday, registering their first victory in this season's competition.

And Cunningham, who is taking charge of the squad for the tournament, believes triumph in the upcoming challenges will involve a full squad effort.

"I think [this] week is a fresh start," he told the club's website.

"We'll possibly have two squads training - a squad for Sale and a squad for Connacht."

The Welsh side trailed 13-6 at the break and spent the start of the second half two men light, with Ken Owens, making his first start since September, joining Steve Shingler in the sin bin.

But the hosts proved resilient during this period, a deciding factor in the final outcome according to Cunningham.

"I was definitely really happy with our second-half performance. In the first half we overplayed in our own half and fed them a bit. We were down to 13 men, it was about tactically getting that first half of the second half correct until we got our numbers back up," he said.

"I was happy with our work rate and how we reacted to losing boys at the end of the first half.

"I was surprised they went for the posts as we'd held them out for four attempts.

"It could easily have gone to ten points, but luckily we just conceded the three."

The weekend's trip to the AJ Bell Stadium precedes an important PRO12 clash with Connacht on February 15, as both sides continue to battle for a top-six finish.

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