CommerCial neWs

NEWS FROM THE PARC SCARLETS Vs OSPREYS

COMMERCIAL

new partners on board!

Scarlets are delighted to welcome South Caernarfon Creameries (SCC) and CRX Compression to our commercial family.

Producers of the award-winning Welsh Dragon cheese and butter brand, SCC is based on the beautiful Llyn Peninsula in North Wales and is a farmers co-operative made up of 145 farms, some of which have been supplying milk for generations.

Dragon Marketing Manager Kirstie Jones said: “We are really excited to be joining the Scarlets family and building our brand in the South Wales area. The Scarlets have a great affinity with the community and we can’t wait to be a part of that!”. As well as match-day hospitality, Dragon will have a presence in the Supporters Village before and after games, while also supplying their Welsh cheese and butter into the stadium, including consumer favourites Welsh Slate Cavern Aged Cheddar, Halen Môn Mature Cheddar and their Cavern Aged Penderyn Whisky blend. In addition, the Dragon branding will be shown at Parc y Scarlets and in the match-day programme.

For more information on Dragon go to www.dragonwales.co.uk The partnership with CRX will see players provided with a range of compression wear to aid their performance and recovery. CRX Compression specialises in providing professional athletes in elite sport with high-quality compression garments.

nigel Ashley-jones, Scarlets Head of Physical Performance, said: “CRX uses the latest in compression technology to help maximise players’ recovery. Every detail matters at this level and we are delighted to be partnering with a company that has such experience in working with elite sportsmen and women across a wide range of sports.” Jack Wright, Sales & Marketing Manager at CRX Compression, said: “CRX Compression are delighted to partner with the Scarlets. To be supplying our products to the squad in order to improve their recovery, prevent injury and maximise performance is extremely exciting for us.

“With the tough season schedule, recovery is more important than ever and we look forward to working alongside both the medical, strength and conditioning teams as well as the squad, to optimise player recovery in between games.”

OWAIN BADGER SCARLETS Vs ospreys

THOUGHTS FROM

Mind tHE gAP. wEll wE PrOBABly dO ACtuAlly. it HAS BEEn 10 lOng wEEkS SinCE tHE SCArlEtS PlAyEd tHEir lASt COMPETITIVE GAME.

While we all accept that public health concerns as a result of the continued pandemic should take priority, the disruption which entails is causing a sense of frustration for club, coaches, players and supporters alike.

After a gap of nearly six months in 2020 during the first lockdown we have just endured a second period without a competitive Scarlets game. Not since the Second World War when fixtures were suspended for five years have there been such big gaps in the Scarlets calendar.

The nearest we came to it was nearly 60 years ago during the big freeze of 1963.

During that winter the country was gripped by sub-zero temperatures, hard frosts and blizzards.

All sports were affected. For football, it meant that a special football pools panel had to be set up live on television to predict the result of league games. This was a necessity as the Football pools was one of the few forms of mass gambling in the country. These were innocent days before the advent of online gambling and national lotteries.

For the Scarlets, it meant nearly five weeks without a game. On January 5, there was a 3-0 win at Abertillery in what was hailed as a game for the connoisseur - in other words, extremely boring. West Wales then became encased by the big freeze. Club rugby was at a standstill and international matches were only played because tonnes of hay were spread over pitches to stop the ground from freezing. Farmers were hired to pitchfork the hay off the pitch before the start of the game.

The Scarlets committee even made inquiries about installing underground heating so that games could be held in the future.

The freezing weather eventually relented and the next game was at home against Swansea which we lost 6-0. In fact, the lockdown gap in the season hadn’t done the Scarlets any favours at all. Before the freeze they had lost only two of their first 12 games and were on course for a successful season.

The cold weather must have frozen the players’ joints because after the return they had a run of nine defeats in 10 matches.

it brought the usual “the end is nigh” comments from the local press.”the Scarlets have been serving up some shocking football lately. Now is the time for the committee to take stock.,” thundered the Llanelli Star.

Let’s hope that there aren’t any more enforced gaps in the fixtures to come. if there are, then perhaps the professional rugby clubs should set up a panel to predict results live on television. now that would be a source of fierce argument.