The 2007–08 season was the fifth in the history of the Llanelli Scarlets regional side. The season saw the Scarlets compete in three competitions: the

Celtic League The Celtic League is a pan-Celtic organization, founded in 1961, that aims to promote modern Celtic identity and culture in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man – referred to as the Celtic nations; it places pa ...

, the

EDF Energy Cup The Anglo-Welsh Cup (), was a cross-border rugby union knock-out cup competition that featured the 12 Premiership Rugby clubs and the four Welsh regions. It was a created as a replacement for the RFU Knockout Cup, which featured only English clubs ...

and the

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Investec Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

. It was also the last full season for the Scarlets in their historic home,

Stradey Park Stradey Park (Welsh: ''Parc y Strade'') was a rugby union stadium located near the centre of the town of Llanelli in Carmarthenshire, Wales. It was the home of the Scarlets region and Llanelli RFC rugby teams. The stadium was a combination of ...

. A new ground,

Parc y Scarlets ''Parc y Scarlets'' (, meaning: ''Scarlets Park'') is a rugby union stadium in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, that opened in November 2008 as the new home of the Scarlets and Llanelli RFC. The ground replaced Stradey Park, the home of Llanelli's ru ...

, was under construction during that season, and is scheduled to open in November 2008, early in the 2008–09 season. On the whole, the season was regarded as a disappointment by pundits and fans alike, as the team failed to qualify from the group stage in either the EDF Energy Cup or the Heineken Cup, even failing to pick up any points from any of their six Heineken Cup matches. The team's league form started off much better, remaining around second place for much of the first half of the season. However, as teams began to get players back from

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

duty, the Scarlets' league form began to suffer, winning just two games in 2008, resulting in a sixth-place finish in the Celtic League. These failures were largely blamed on the team's failure to strengthen the squad sufficiently the previous summer and resulted in coach Phil Davies departing the club. Welsh internationals

Dwayne Peel Dwayne John Peel (born 31 August 1981) is a Welsh rugby union coach and former player. He was the most capped scrum-half for the Wales national rugby union team with 76 caps, until his record was surpassed by Mike Phillips on 16 March 2013. Yo ...

Alix Popham Alix Jon Popham (born 17 October 1979) is a Welsh former rugby union player who played as a number eight or flanker. Born in Newport, he began his career with Newport RFC in 1998, before moving to Leeds Tykes in 2002. He spent three years in E ...

and

Matthew Watkins Matthew Jason Watkins (2 September 1978 – 7 March 2020) was a Welsh professional rugby union player who played as a Centre (rugby union), centre. He was commonly known by the name Matthew J. Watkins to avoid confusion with another Welsh rugby ...

also agreed deals to move away from Stradey Park at the end of the season, while hooker

Mahonri Schwalger Mase Mahonri Schwalger (born 15 September 1978) is a former Samoan professional rugby union footballer who last played in New Zealand for the Chiefs in the Super Rugby competition and for Counties Manukau in the National Provincial Championshi ...

was signed on a short-term contract mid-season to cover for the injured

Ken Owens Kenneth James Owens (born 3 January 1987) is a former Welsh rugby union player who played as a hooker for the Scarlets and Wales. He made his debut for the Scarlets in 2006, taking over from Matthew Rees as their first-choice hooker upon Re ...

. Other big-name signings in summer 2007 included Welsh internationals

Ben Broster Benedict Graham John Broster (born 7 May 1982) is a former professional rugby union footballer. Born in Southwark, London, he began his professional career with Saracens, and also played for the Llanelli Scarlets, Northampton Saints, London Wa ...

and

Nathan Brew Nathan Brew (born 21 April 1982) is a former Welsh international rugby union player. Brew played in the centre and on the wing. Early life Brew was born in Cardiff to a Welsh mother and Ghanaian father, and was raised a Welsh language speaker ...

, as well as Scottish prop Bruce Douglas and English front-five forwards

Adam Eustace Adam Eustace (born 9 January 1979 in Gloucester, England) is an English rugby union footballer. A former pupil of St Peter's High School in Gloucester, his regular position is as a lock. He re-signed to Gloucester Rugby in the summer of 2008, h ...

and James Hayter.

Pre-season and friendlies

The Scarlets prepared for the 2007–08 campaign with two pre-season friendly matches in August. The first friendly was away to the

Exeter Chiefs Exeter Chiefs (officially Exeter Rugby Club) is an England, English professional rugby union club based in Exeter, Devon. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1871 and since 2006 has played i ...

on 18 August 2007, and gave the Scarlets an opportunity to give debuts to their three new front row players, James Hayter, Bruce Douglas and

. Exeter had a pair of ex-Scarlets in their team, in the form of

Clive Stuart-Smith Clive James Stuart-Smith (born 17 May 1983) is an English rugby union player who plays at scrum-half. Stuart-Smith played club rugby for Gloucester RFC, Leeds Tykes, Worcester Warriors, Exeter Chiefs and Esher RFC in the English leagues as wel ...

and

Craig Dunlea Craig Dunlea is a rugby union prop who was born in Leeston, New Zealand on 2 June 1976. He is a former representative of Octago Highlanders, Scarlets, and Exeter Chiefs Exeter Chiefs (officially Exeter Rugby Club) is an England, English p ...

, but their knowledge of the Scarlets was not enough to prevent a 19–14 win for the Llanelli side. The next friendly was against

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

on 25 August 2007. The Scarlets took a 14–7 lead before half-time, and went 17–7 up within the first five minutes of the second half. However, there were to be no further scores for the home side, as Bath scored two more tries to win the game 21–17.

Celtic League

Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Points for; A = Points against; PD = Points difference; BP = Bonus points; Pts = Points

EDF Energy Cup

Heineken Cup

Squad statistics

Transfers

In

Out

Loan out

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2007-08 Llanelli Scarlets season Scarlets seasons Llanelli Scarlets Llanelli Scarlets Llanelli Scarlets