The Llanelli coach Gareth Jenkins has his focus set on a second league and cup double, clinching the Welsh-Scottish title at Cardiff to provide a dramatic end to a dull campaign.
Llanelli take on Pontypridd in the Principality Cup final at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday after winning the title which at the start of last week was a four-horse race. Neath lost at Swansea last Tuesday which left the Scarlets needing to beat Cardiff to take the championship.
Cardiff needed to win to stay in contention but they would have needed Newport to either lose or draw against Bridgend at Rodney Parade on Saturday evening. Llanelli's victory left Newport playing for second place, which they duly secured.
"Winning the title goes some way to making up for the bitter disappointment of losing the Heineken Cup semi-final to Leicester in the final minute. That was a cruel blow which took us a while to get over," said Jenkins, coach on the other occasion Llanelli won the double in 1993.
"To win at Cardiff showed the great character of the players. We were 17 points down at one stage in the second half and when Cardiff had a late penalty to win the match from inside their own half, I had visions of Tim Stimpson and Leicester.
"In recent years, we have lost a number of big games in the final minute and it made a welcome change when we were the ones kicking the last-ditch penalty to take the prize. The double is now on and we will be going for it."
The 45-yard penalty was kicked by Stephen Jones in the second minute of stoppage time. "I tried to steal a couple of yards as Stimpson had done in Nottingham, but the referee spotted me and told me to go back. At least it went straight over without assistance from the bar and post."
The Welsh-Scottish League will not continue next season, scrapped after three seasons of arch-mediocrity. The nine Welsh clubs will revert to a Premier Division and with Aberavon winning the First Division title with victory at Dunvant on Saturday, they will play-off with Caerphilly, who finished at the bottom of the Welsh-Scottish, over the next two weekends for the right to top flight rugby in August.
Gregor Townsend, the Scotland stand-off, was last night revealed as the new Borders team's latest signing, from the French club Castres.
New Zealand will meet Fiji in a one-off Test in Wellington on June 29, following their matches against Italy and Ireland. But they will be without their captain and hooker Anton Oliver, ruled out for at least three months after rupturing his right achilles tendon in Otago Highlanders 40-26 Super 12 win over the Queensland Reds on Saturday. He underwent surgery yesterday.
