Leicester boss Dean Richards pinpointed Llanelli's desire as the key to their success in a crucial 24-12 Heineken Cup victory over the European champions at Stradey Park.

The win secured the Scarlets a place in this seaosn's quarter-finals and also ended the Tigers' 11-match unbeaten Heineken Cup record.

The Tigers came unstuck 24-12 at an emotion-charged Stradey Park and could now be away in the quarter-finals, depending on other results.

Llanelli had to win if they wanted one of the two best runners-up spots, and they were steered to victory by a magnificent goal-kicking display from their Wales fly-half Stephen Jones, who kicked eight penalties.

"On the day, Llanelli were up for it just a little bit more than we were," Richards said.

"You can never underestimate the sort of passion that this stadium generates when it is full, and that gave Llanelli an edge.

"It is not something that we encounter very often, and usually we are able to thrive in adversity, as we showed in the final against Stade Francais last year, but today we didn't react well to the refereeing decisions.

"Llanelli were far more physical against us than most English sides are. They attacked us from a defensive point of view far more often than sides in the Premiership do, and also competed far more at our line-out."

Llanelli coach Gareth Jenkins was understandably thrilled with the performance and result, a win which will take Llanelli to whoever finishes as top seeds from the group stage, possibly Bath.

"That was an unbelievable occasion," he said.

"Leicester's form has been magnificent this season, but the Heineken Cup is all about one-off occasions like these.

"From my point of view, today was never going to be about our ability. I always knew that we had the ability - this was about minds, hearts and souls."

Llanelli deliberately played against the wind in the first half, and crucially changed ends 15-12 ahead as Leicester failed to take advantage of the elements.

"We deliberately played into the wind after winning the toss, and if we had come in 15 points behind then I still felt we had a chance, but to have a three-point lead was beyond all my expectations.

"But I don't think this result changes anything. Leicester are still the complete team and the onus is on everyone else to beat them."