Castres v Scarlets, Heineken Cup, January 21
Davies thrilled with gritty Scarlets
January 21, 2012
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Nigel Davies was thrilled with his young Scarlets side © Getty Images
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Teams: Castres | France | Scarlets | Wales

Scarlets head coach Nigel Davies hailed his injury-hit side after they claimed a gritty 16-13 Heineken Cup win at Castres to book their place in the quarter-finals of the Amlin Challenge Cup.

With Northampton losing in Milton Keynes to Munster, the win helped the Scarlets finish runners-up in Pool 1 and moved them into the knockout stages of the second tier tournament for the second time in three years.

The Welsh region were without a host of regulars, including skipper Matthew Rees, because of injury, but claimed a rousing victory thanks to a remarkable 90-metre interception try from flanker Aaron Shingler and a penalty two minutes from time from the boot of veteran fly-half Stephen Jones.

"It is a fantastic result for us," Davies said. "We had over 20 players at home and the boys came over here and produced a great performance against a side who were third in the Top 14 and pretty full on.

"We are delighted, it puts us in a play-off tie which is where we want to be, but there is also a sense of 'what if'. We were so close to doing something special this year in the Heineken, but at least now we have a chance to do it in the Amlin.

"We did miss a few opportunities again, which has probably been the story of the Heineken Cup for us and the difference between us not qualifying. But there is a huge amount of endeavour and quality coming through and to

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