Scarlets head to Dublin confident of an upset as Gareth Davies relishes European Champions Cup underdog tag

Exclusive: History shows the Scarlets have nothing to fear in facing Leinster on their own turf as Wayne Pivac’s side plot another downfall for the European favourites

Gareth Davies says Scarlets will head to the Aviva Stadium holding no fear against Leinster (REX)

There have already been some famous wins for Scarlets since Wayne Pivac took the reins less than four years ago but victory away to Leinster in Saturday’s European Champions Cup semi-final would surely top the lot.

Leinster are most people’s pick as winners, while playing them at home is notoriously tough; just ask Saracens. But Scarlets will not be travelling with fear in their hearts.

Last year Pivac’s team produced back-to-back shocks in the Irish capital by first beating Leinster at the RDS ground in the Pro12 semi-final before trouncing Munster 46-22 in the final at the Aviva Stadium.

More than 50,000 are expected for Saturday’s showdown between two sides with contrasting styles but both capable of lighting up a field with the quality of their play.

Scarlets scrum-half Gareth Davies has been one of the tournament’s outstanding players so far, maintaining the high standards he set for Wales in the Six Nations and helping lead the west Walians to their first European semi-final since 2007, and he will be key to Saturday’s outcome with the 27-year-old try-scoring machine convinced Pivac’s team can pull off another shock in Dublin.

“A lot of people have written us off already,” he said. “The way Leinster are going they are probably up there with the best team in Europe at the moment. I think the bookies are making them favourites but we’re quite happy going in there as underdogs.

“We beat them in the semi-final of the league last year when we rocked up there with no-one really believing we could do it. We believed we could and we managed to surprise a lot of people by beating them on their home patch. I don’t see why we can’t do that again.

“There’s a lot of history at the Scarlets but this group of players feel ready to make our own.”

Scarlets booked their place in the last four with a hard-fought win over surprise French package La Rochelle in front of a record crowd at a pulsating Parc y Scarlets last month.

Just as he had against Leinster in the Pro12 semi-final last year, when Steff Evans was sent off, Scarlets flanker James Davies demonstrated his remarkable versatility when he was deployed as a makeshift wing early on against La Rochelle following Paul Asquith’s departure with a season-ending arm injury.

James Davies is finally being recognised for his form, believes his Scarlets and Wales teammate (Getty)

After making his international debut against Italy in the Six Nations, scrum-half Davies believes the man affectionately known as ‘Cubby’ is finally getting the recognition his skills warrant.

“James has probably been our best player down at the Scarlets for a couple of years and missed out on a couple of campaigns with Wales,” said his namesake, Davies.

“But he had his opportunity in the Six Nations and took it well to be fair to him. He had his first cap and hopefully there’ll be many more to follow.

“He could play anywhere I think. He’s saved us a few times actually. In the semi-final last year out in Dublin Cubby switched to the wing and had an outstanding game. He didn’t get as many jackals out there but his positional play and reading of the game to go from the back-row to the wing he didn’t look out of place at all. It just shows the quality of player that he is. He can play more or less anywhere on the park.”

With a convincing quarter-final win over defending champions Saracens already in the bag and three previous European Cup titles, Leinster unquestionably start as favourites against Pivac’s men.

But there is a quiet confidence around west Wales at the moment and a small army of Scarlets fans is set to descend on the Aviva Stadium on Saturday as their team mount their bid for a place in the final against either Racing 92 or Munster on May 12.

Davies was at his very best for Wales during the Six Nations (Getty)

For Pivac, whose first memory of the Llanelli based club came as a schoolboy when he listened on the radio as they beat the All Blacks in 1972, reaching the final this year would surely rubber stamp him as Warren Gatland’s successor as Wales head coach after the 2019 World Cup.

For Scarlets players, it is a chance to make even more history for the great rugby region by reaching a first ever European final.

“Scarlets have got such good history in Europe and it’s good for us as a group of players to make our own stamp on things,” said Davies.

“A lot of people talk about the older generation but hopefully now people can start talking about us and how well we’ve done this year.

“We know how successful that team 11 years ago was and how good that team was. It’s good for us to put our own stamp on things. Hopefully people will recognise us this time around.”