Scarlets hope to stop English exodus

 

Fullback Williams is believed to have been targeted by Leicester, while lock Ball and flyhalf Priestland have been linked with Northampton and Bath respectively.

 

But Pivac says the Scarlets are working hard to retain the services of the sought-after trio.

 

“We are keen to keep all the boys obviously,” said the New Zealander.

 

“Those are things that are a work in progress behind the scenes.”

 

Asked if he was confident of holding on to them, he said: “Hopefully, but we will just see what happens.”

 

Priestland and Williams both played their parts in helping the Scarlets beat Ulster 22-13 to keep alive their hopes of reaching the quarterfinals of the European Champions Cup, a game Ball missed through a virus.

 

It was Priestland who picked up the Man of the Match award, as he landed 17 points on a wet and windy night in Llanelli, while Williams bravely played on with an ankle sprain that is likely to keep him out of Friday’s Pro12 clash with Cardiff Blues at the Arms Park.

 

“I thought Rhys played very well,” said Pivac.

 

“He was getting good length on the ball with his kicking game, so that was very pleasing.

 

“At times, we got the better of Ulster in those kicking exchanges.

 

“I thought Liam played very well too before he went off. He gutsed it out with an ankle for good 15 minutes, so he did a great job for us too.”

 

Meanwhile, Priestland was pleased with the turnaround the Welsh team had done after falling 9-24 to Ulster at Kingspan stadium the week before.

 

"We were very disappointed after last week. We let ourselves down and let the supporters down and the coaches down," the Welsh flyhalf said after the 22-13 win at home.

 

"We wanted to put in a massive performance tonight [Sunday].

 

"It was a big improvement on last week. Ulster have got great pedigree in Europe and we're very relieved to get the win."