Rugby Union Commentary: Weakened Scarlets' telling blow

INDUSTRIAL cleaners had been in at 2am to make the Arms Park fit and proper for the big event. After Bruno and Lewis, Llanelli came out of the Scarlet corner and, with a 16-9 victory in front of an impassioned 15,000, may well have undermined Cardiff's championship aspirations.

It was a thrilling game and an even better occasion. Afterwards they had the blues in the Blue and Black corner, because they knew this was a match they should have won given the spate of injuries which so disrupted Llanelli's team selection. Thank goodness, the Scarlets rejoiced, we have an outstanding under-21 team.

On Thursday evening they had trained without four members of Saturday's side - the full-back, both centres and the hooker - who expected to be playing for Llanelli Under-21 on Friday night and did not know they were being thrown in against the Heineken League leaders until Friday morning.

In these circumstances, it was a triumph. Paul Young, the debutant hooker, even had the temerity to score one try and create another. Such precociousness. If only they did not have it hammered out of them as they walked the treadmill of the endless Welsh season, Welsh rugby's future would be in safe hands.

But this brings us to the apparent impossibility of catering for the needs of the national side as long as the First Division extends to 22 fixtures. Remember that in England players are complaining because the league programme has been stretched to 18. By direct comparison, they are the lucky ones.

'We have a democratic system in Wales and the majority of clubs will vote to continue 22 fixtures, because the majority are not involved with supplying international players,' Allan Lewis, the Llanelli coach, said. A Saturday off like next Saturday when Llanelli are looking forward to trying some new players against Bedford will not be a Saturday off for the many Scarlets involved in national squad sessions.

In the end it is up to Welsh rugby collectively to decide where its priorities lie and if the answer seems obvious, try telling that to the clubs - and the Welsh Rugby Union itself - who agreed to extend the Heineken First Division from 10 to 12 clubs last year. 'As Welshmen we are so parochial,' Lewis complained. 'It's almost sacrilege to suggest going to play Harlequins or Bath.'

More fool the Welsh because, whatever has been or may yet be, right now the English can do more for them than they can do for the English. The Rugby Football Union decided at least six years ago that the England team, its shop-window, would have an absolute priority. This has occasionally been inconvenient for the clubs but the spin-off to them from a successful national side has been huge.

Perhaps one day the same will be said about Wales, although the WRU is probably incapable of doing anything much until it resolves its dispute with its secretary, Denis Evans, who has been on paid leave since June. The findings of Sir Tasker Watkins' committee of enquiry will be revealed this week and perhaps then the power vacuum will be filled.

Meantime Wales A have to fit in Japan between two league Saturdays and once Wales have played the tourists on 16 October - glory be, a second non-league Saturday - it will be back to the grind with Cardiff hoping to make amends for this defeat at Neath of all places. Llanelli will be at Newbridge.

Lewis is pleased with a three- week break, hoping it will be enough for some of his many injured players to regain fitness. Alex Evans, his Cardiff equivalent, is frustrated by it, the best therapy for a bad defeat being a good victory as soon as possible.

His team's poor performance implied they had flattered to deceive in their five league wins. This was their biggest test and they failed it, just as Llanelli had failed theirs against Swansea, and Swansea had failed theirs against Neath. Now the leaders of the First Division after winning 10-0 at Aberavon, who had pushed Llanelli to 24-21 the previous week, Neath are a point ahead of the other three.

Apart from a tight win at Pontypridd, where everyone fears to tread, Cardiff had been prevailing with meaningless ease. This, by the way, is another of Allan Lewis's grouses: most league games, the ones that Llanelli were winning by 50, 70 or even 90 points last season, are simply not competitive enough as preparation for representative rugby.

Evans would agree. 'Having easy games hasn't prepared us well for a hard fixture like this,' he said. His forwards won plenty of possession and Adrian Davies gave Cardiff an early lead with two penalties but there was a disturbing lack of penetration, an awful tendency for forwards to get in the way and then lumber bang into the buffers of Llanelli's tackling.

Consequently Nigel Walker's Olympic hurdler's speed was unused rather than underused; when he was finally given a pass there were only 10 minutes left and his hamstring had gone. By the time Davies added his third penalty, bringing Cardiff back to a converted try from victory, it was almost too late.

In between, Llanelli, however disorganised they thought they were, had defended heroically and had enough of the game to warrant their two tries. Young went round the front of a loose Cardiff line-out for the first and went on another charge in building up to Paul Jones's second.

'It was very difficult to contain my emotion after the game,' Lewis said. The Scarlets coach is a perpetual worrier who, after this performance, hopes to rest more easily and now believes his ulcer (a regular post-match topic of conversation) will not reappear until after Christmas. 'It would be nice to sleep a full eight hours,' he said, without a trace of a yawn.

Cardiff: Penalties Davies 3. Llanelli: Tries Young, P Jones; Conversion Williams; Penalty Williams.

Cardiff: M Rayer; S Hill, M Hall (capt), J Hewlett, N Walker (C John, 70); A Davies, A Moore; M Griffiths, J Humphreys, P Sedgemore, A Rees, D Jones, H Stone, H Taylor, M Budd.

Llanelli: I Jones; I Evans, L Davies, M Wintle, W Proctor; H Williams, R Moon (capt); D Joseph, P Young, H Williams-Jones, A Copsey, P Jones, S Quinnell, E Lewis (M Perego, 77), L Jones.

Referee: C Thomas (Neath).

Japan recorded the first win of their six-match tour of Wales, a 24-23 triumph over Dunvant, but had the flanker, Hirofume Ouchi, sent off. Ouchi, who scored one of Japan's three tries, was dismissed in the second half for stamping.