Racing Metro fight back to earn Scarlets draw

Racing Metro came back from being down 20-10 at half time to earn a 26-all draw against the Scarlets at Parc y Scarlets in the Heineken Cup.

Fly-halves Rhys Priestland and Jonny Sexton kicked 16 points apiece with both
sides also scoring two tries each with Scott Williams and Rhodri Williams going
over in the first half as the home side led 20-10 at the break when the French
side had two players in the sin-bin.

Racing’s tries came in each half from Wenceslas Lauret and Sakiusa Matadigo.

Scarlets fans were relieved to see Johnny Sexton miss with a late penalty and
then drop goal attempt that meant the battle between the top two teams in Pool
4 ended in a draw.

The home side, still high on their three-try victory over Harlequins at the
Twickenham Stoop the previous weekend, were 20-10 to the good at the break thanks
to two more tries from the Williams clan, Scott and Rhodri.

But they failed to make the most of a two man advantage at the end of the
first and start of the second half and allowed Racing Metro to come back into
the game and snatch a share of the points in the end.

Rhys Priestland should have given the Welsh region a comfortable start, but
the international stand-off was wide with a pair of early penalties. Then they
were forced to pay a high price as Racing pounced from a scrum to score a try
through Wenceslas Lauret.

The try emanated from the scrum, where the Scarlets’ were hit by the suspension
of rising tight head star Samson Lee. Jonathan Sexton added the extras and the
French side began to look comfortable.

But home skipper Jonathan Davies paved the way for a try from his centre partner
Scott Williams and, on the stroke of half-time, scrum half Rhodri Williams followed
suit.

Priestland converted both, and added two penalties, and by the break the Scarlets
were 20-10 to the good. Not only that, they had a two man advantage after Dimiti
Szarsewski and Fabrice Estebanez

With numbers in their favour it was no surprise when the Scarlets extended
their lead when Priestland land another penalty. But Sexton wasn’t far behind
in response and by the time the French side were back up to a full complement
no further damage had been done.

Their relief at still being within 10 points of their hosts was in direct opposition
to home coach Simon Easterby’s expression. He had hoped for more from his side
at a crucial moment in the game, but the killer instinct never really emerged.

The Scarlets began to get nervy, after all they hadn’t been in touching distance
of successive Heineken Cup wins for quite some time, and they had plenty of
problems at line-out time.

The Racing pack had shown their strength in containing Clermont and they paved
the way for replacement front rower Mask Matadio to cross for a try within seven
minutes of coming onto the field.

Sexton added the conversion and the gap was suddenly only three points. Sexton
then drew the scores level on the hour with a penalty the Scarlets once again
had to rely on Priestland’s boot for another penalty to hoist them into a 26-23
lead.

Sexton was on target to make it 26-26 with 10 minutes to go and, in the end,
the Scarlets were happy to hang on for a share of the points.

Final Score Scarlets 26 (20) Racing Metro 26 (10)

Scorers

Scarlets
Tries – Williams 2
Pen – Priestland 4
Con – Priestland 2
Drop –

Racing Metro 92
Tries – Lauret, Matadigo
Pen – Sexton 4
Con – Sexton 2
Drop –

Match Officials
Referee: Neil Paterson (Scotland),
Assistant ref: David Changleng (Scotland),
Assistant ref: Adrian Graves (Scotland),
TMO: Ia