Grand designs

THE SCARLETS move into their impressive 20,000-seater home, Parc y Scarlets, on the outskirts of eastern Llanelli in mid-November when the Baa-baas come to town.

Built at a cost of £45 million (€58m), Parc y Scralets ushers in a new era for a passionate rugby region although misty-eyed sentimentalists from southwest Wales will be saddened when their beloved 129-year-old Stradey Park shuts its gates for the last time following Saturday’s Heineken Cup clash with Harlequins.

Stradey is a world famous name having staged many, many epic Welsh club rugby clashes, internationals and, in the last 13 years, a series of memorable Heineken Cup matches where Llanelli RFC and subsequently the regionalised Scarlets reached three semi-finals. Along the way they’ve played some intoxicating rugby, brushing aside the likes of Stade Francais (January 1999), London Wasps (Jan 2000) and Leicester Tigers (January 2002). But arguably their finest European night came when they beat Munster in April 2007.