It’s no use getting shirty…

The Scarlets have now lost 9 straight in the Heineken Cup, and it hurts. The fact that the last two matches were to clubs who have found it difficult to decide whether they are rugby clubs or fashion houses will hurt the Dyfed Men of Steel all the more.

The new Stade shirts feature a renowned queen whose face is reproduced Warhol style. The players of Stade are well established on the nude calendar circuit, and Parisse’s buttocks no doubt adorn the walls of the Parisian metrosexual set, but the closest the Llanelli boys could get to a renowned queen would be a picture of Aled off the Chris Moyles show.

Stade were too good for about ten minutes of what was otherwise a pretty even contest. Mark Jones scored the try of the tournament thus far, finishing off a scintillating break by Morgan Stoddart.

The Ospreys were, quite simply, woeful. Even allowing for the lack of experience at half back, they allowed the Perpignan pack to disrupt the flow. Wayne Barnes and his supply of yellow cards could only do so much. Lee Byrne continues to shine under the high ball – he catches an unusually high proportion of his own kicks, in fact. Chris Latham apart, he is the best full back around, and can surely look forward to a summer on the high veldt.