Llanelli coach Nigel Davies has warned his side that they must stop England star Jason Robinson if they are to win Friday night's clash with high-flying Sale Sharks at Heywood Road and keep their knock-out stage qualifying hopes bubbling.

"It's a must-win game for us," said Davies.

"They are a very competent team and, although they have not yet shown that in Europe, I think their Zurich Premiership form shows how good they are.

"We will have to be on top form if we are to get anything out of this game. We have been watching them quite closely on videos over the last few weeks and we've identified their strengths and weaknesses.

"It's clear to see their back three work very well together and, in particular, Jason Robinson is a major threat.

"Our kicking will have to be very tight as if they start going astray then he will punish us.

"The contact areas are also going to be a crucial part of the game."

Robinson played a cameo part in the Sharks' victory over Bath at the weekend. And following his bruising match against South Africa he is expected to start against Llanelli on Friday night.

However, the Scarlets have not been in competitive action since a Celtic League match on October 26.

And Davies admits that not having the players together for over a month has been far from perfect preparation.
He said: "It's not ideal, but there's nothing we can do and we'll just have to get on with it.

"We were lucky enough to get a friendly against Ebbw Vale at the weekend and considering we've not played together since October then I think we played very well.

"Now we just have to take that form into Friday night. We'll spend the week catching up and practising our set-plays as that's going to be another key area.

"It is a very disjointed period of the season in Wales and it's definitely something that needs to be looked at.

"Sale will be right on top of their game. They played Bath at the weekend in a tough game and that's the type of preparation you want going into a big match."

Llanelli have won one, against Glasgow Rugby, and lost one, against Bourgoin, and their next two Heineken Cup games away and home to Sale Sharks should determine their European season.

"We need to win these two games," said Davies."If we don't then we've made it very hard on ourselves to progress through to the latter stages of the tournament."

For their part Sale Sharks will be seeking to make it three in a row over Llanelli.

It will be the 11th time the two clubs have met, the first game being at Stradey Park on 13 January, 1934.

Llanelli won that one 12-6 and lead 6-2 in the series, with two matches drawn. But in their last two meetings, in the Anglo-Welsh League in 1996, the English side came out on top 29-11 at home and 36-35 away.

It will be a vital game for both clubs, Sale having lost at home to Bourgoin and away at Glasgow Rugby.