Episode 1 The Scarlets

Wales, a rugby nation,

where every town and every village gets behind its local team.

HE SHOUTS

In Llanelli, top-class rugby has been played for 140 years.

And it inspires a whole region.

We've got boys out on this field that are amongst

the best in the world at what they do.

But these days, it's more than a game. It's a business.

And it's a business under threat.

What keeps me awake at night is paying the wages next month.

It's a battle to keep the big players here in Wales...

I say W by five.

..and ensure a precious rugby tradition survives.

Unless something changes, I think our regions will be gone.

This is the inside story of 12 months of triumph, tension...

Get out.

-..turmoil...

-Everybody's at each other's throats.

-..and pride in the scarlet jersey.

-Gets a bit emotional, I guess.

Stand by for a year with the Scarlets.

Boxing Day 2013. Park Y Scarlets is sold out.

Two of Wales's four professional rugby regions

go head-to-head before 15,000 fans.

Before kick-off, there's an unprecedented demonstration.

The target is the Welsh Rugby Union.

The governing body is involved in a row with the regions

centring on how the professional game in Wales should develop.

With the game's administrators at loggerheads,

these fans fear for the future.

The regions' voice must be heard.

The fans' voice has got to be heard in all this.

It's despicable. They need to sort it out.

It's not fair on the regions, or on the fans that turn up every week.

You take Scarlets away from Llanelli and there's nothing here, man.

But this crisis hasn't come out of the blue.

We've seen it looming larger and larger across our years

of filming for this series, as we have secured a unique

insight into the way that regional rugby actually works.

We have to fight for every single pound, it's as simple as that.

We've been there, up close and personal, with the business,

the team, and the fans,

as the regional game in Wales fights for survival.

THEY CHANT: Scarlets! Scarlets! Scarlets!

A year ago, it all seemed very different.

Back then, the crisis was on the pitch.

We started filming on a dark, damp winter's night in Llanelli.

The Scarlets had crashed out of the European Cup

and they were struggling in the league.

With their best players away winning the Six Nations for Wales,

the Scarlets attract their lowest crowd of the season.

As the team gets ready for battle,

there's no mistaking the scale of the challenges ahead.

Even though they look frightening,

Connacht are near the bottom of the table.

The Scarlets should win, but they're struggling.

The coaches are powerless, and the die-hards can't raise a cheer.

But late on, a stroke of luck seals a win.

The referee is determined to award a try.

But even the scorer knows he's got it wrong.

No way that was a try. Not even close.

Chief executive Mark Davies is new to the business.

Right now, he'll take a win of any kind.

It helps the way the boys approach next week,

and if professional sport is that last 1%,

then it's easier to attain that last 1% with a level of confidence.

It affects their mental approach to the week.

It affects the whole business, actually. It just creates a buzz.

We can be comfortable that we won the game, but not necessarily with

some of the performances, so let's be hard on ourselves this week.

We'd take the result before the game, of course we would.

It's all about building momentum.

We're going to have to be much, much better next week, aren't we?

Much, much better.

Monday morning, and the weekly routine begins all over again.

With the powerful Munster team up next,

the coaches and players need to get straight down to business.

In the video analysis room, it's all very technical.

Just looking through my clips and

getting an idea of what you've done during the game, looking to improve.

Just reviewing everything, really.

Good and bad, obviously the comments

we have from the coaches, it's feedback for the players.

In the coaches' office, they know

their options for Saturday's vital game are strictly limited.

The second try.

-You thought about selection yet?

-Yeah.

Part of it will depend on who we have back from the Welsh camp.

This time of the season, when we've got so many players away

with the national squad, with the under-20s and with the sevens,

we are short of

a big proportion of our squad, and if you back that up with

a high injury rate, then it obviously becomes difficult to select

a really competitive team, so that's huge for me on a Monday morning,

knowing exactly who I can and can't work with.

Lie on your back again for us.

Andy Walker is the head physiotherapist.

No-one knows the players as intimately.

-Excuse my fingers.

-Oh!

You're used to this, anyway.

Not with blokes, though.

Andy's a busy man.

A quarter of the squad will be out injured at any one time.

You're fit to play for the weekend, but during the week,

as of today, we need to make sure you're ready to go for the weekend.

Two taps. Two taps.

See you, mate.

Mark Davies is also doing a health check - on the business.

Every shirt sold makes a difference.

The revenue that we generate

from all of the merchandise that we sell goes back on the field,

so we have a business here that's about 150,000 contribution

to the bottom line, and at the end of the day, that's another player.

We quantify every part of the business in the number

of players it helps us put on the field.

In the good old amateur days,

a small committee with a few local backers were all you needed

to run a thriving club, but now it's a different ball game.

The Scarlets have 50 players and around 50 full-time staff.

It's an £8.5 million business.

In a sense, we are a retail business, and an entertainment business.

We might consider our competition now as the cinema.

So we've got to compete with all of that

and make sure that there's a value in actually coming out,

coming to us and being part of the match day experience.

But there are only 16 home games a year. As well as gate money,

there are TV rights, sponsorship and WRU funding,

but the region still needs more.

So as often as possible,

Park Y Scarlets doubles up as a conference centre.

Could you please take your places? Thank you.

Today, Mark is addressing local businesspeople who have

paid to come to a networking event.

And he's quite open about sweating his biggest asset,

the stadium itself.

It's quite a challenge when your core product in the business

is only generating direct revenues on 16 days a year

when they're playing out there, so it's significant to us

as a business for the other 349 days a year that we are utilising

the asset and generating revenue through events like this.

It's great to see we've actually got ten of our existing

business partners here today,

and our bank, which we are, of course, grateful for...ahem.

LAUGHTER

And our auditors, which we're equally grateful for!

But getting ready for the Munster game is no laughing matter.

As the coaches confront the team,

-one player is going to be singled out.

-Owen Williams, where are you?

What was our first call in the line-out attack last week?

-What was it meant to be?

-Tails with the Yorkie.

-Tails with the Yorkie.

-What did we call? Five man.

-Five man.

-BLEEP

-boys.

And we did it in training, didn't we?

So I think we should go in all knowing what our first

line-out attack call is. Agreed?

With a must-win match coming up, lessons have to be learned.

What's the most important aspect of our attacking play

against Munster this week?

Our ball carry is extremely important.

Drop the ball,

and they could be out of the lucrative end-of-season play-offs.

Put pressure on them.

It's our house, we are at home, they have to come and win.

With one of their coaches also away with Wales, the Scarlets have

drafted in Sean Holley to get their heads straight for Munster.

THEY SHOUT: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten!

Physicality is what counts in rugby, in anyone's language,

and especially in Afrikaans.

THEY SPEAK IN AFRIKAANS

Time is tight to get key players fit for Saturday.

I wouldn't want him going into an uncontrolled sort of contact.

He'd need to hit stuff first,

and then he'll be full probably on Thursday.

And there's a surprise physical challenge to fit in meanwhile.

I'm just wondering on any non-coasteerers.

Coasteering in the icy Irish Sea.

That's something the Scarlets have never tried before,

but desperate times call for desperate measures.

It's kill or cure.

Anyone who can't do the full 20 or the 40 foot still has to go in.

It will be good recovery for them, won't it?

It will be like having an ice bath.

The coaches have decided the squad needs some high-impact team-building

down in Pembrokeshire.

We'll stay down in Bluestone tonight.

We're just trying to build that mentality

and a little bit of an ethos here

that it's important that we work hard while we're here,

but also spend some quality time together off the pitch as well,

and hopefully that will transfer to performances come the weekend.

Someone who's delighted the team are heading off is groundsman

Luke Jenkins, and they won't be back in the pitch in a hurry

if they follow his advice.

Don't touch it, don't play in it, don't go anywhere near it.

Come and have a look at it, it looks nice, do a bit of bowling on it.

Don't play any rugby on it. I'll be happy!

It's not just the team that's taken a battering over the winter months.

The pitch needs some TLC, and even some cosmetic treatment.

What it is, is just to cover up the bad parts,

so we're just taking the clippings from around the pitch

and just sprinkle it on the pitch.

It's quite simple.

Luke pushes the limits to keep the pitch perfect.

We actually walk everything, so you can really knock up some mileage.

I had shin splints last year. There's an injury!

All these moaning about hamstrings.

Shin splints! They'd be crying walking up and down the pitch.

This is Luke's territory.

And Mark Davies has had to learn quickly that there's a line

even the chief executive can't cross.

I soon found out it wasn't appropriate to walk across the pitch.

Mark has plenty to worry about off the pitch.

If you take the league that we play in,

or perhaps more significantly, take European rugby,

every other club is in a significant town or city

with a significant conurbation.

We're not.

Scarcely 60,000 people live within easy reach of Park Y Scarlets.

Dublin-based rivals Leinster have 1.8 million on their doorstep.

You can't hide from the numbers.

The base numbers are, there's not a lot of people,

and the region has its own economic challenges.

There are regions in Bulgaria and Romania with a stronger

economic platform, but that's actually why this is so important,

because this can be a source of inspiration, because we've got

boys out on this field from all sorts of little communities around

the region that are amongst the best in the world at what they do.

So the role models have to take the plunge.

Fresh from their cold baths, they head off to the assault course.

Size and bulk, always an advantage on the rugby pitch,

is going to be a problem on the aerial ropeway.

They had to be under 18 stone.

We have got Samson, who's 18 stone 4,

so he's a little bit worried.

"Failure to use the system as shown may result in serious injury or death."

THEY LAUGH

It's a laugh for team-mates,

and a cheap photo op for the watching media.

But with rugby now a global sport, the serious purpose is bridging

the gulf between players from many different backgrounds and cultures.

It's amazing, you know,

at times like this, you really get to know guys.

You spend time at night in the cabins and you do your team-building stuff like this,

so it's a really good bonding opportunity.

So, 116 kilos of Welsh beefcake

is going to test itself against gravity.

Come on, Samson.

And if impact is mass times velocity,

the Scarlets' season is hanging on a zipwire.

Back at base, the business team is praying the players can get their act together.

We can raise an invoice.

There is space for you to provide card details...

Like many of the big clubs in England,

the Scarlets are running at a loss.

Each year, wealthy backers who sit on the board of directors

dig deep into their own pockets to keep the business going.

But the loss would be easier to manage

if the crowds were bigger than the current average of 8,000.

If the rugby isn't performing as well as they could,

then you do see the effect,

but we try and take the rugby out of it in hospitality.

Even though they may have lost, you can't go round

going, "Oh, we've lost", you know?

You've got to be happy, you've got to be positive

and when they're saying, "We're not renewing our season ticket,

"we're not renewing our business club", et cetera, et cetera,

what I say is, I can't control what goes on outside that side of the glass

but this side I can, so where there's carpet, I can control it.

But where there's grass, I can't.

To cover the loss that we continue to fund,

we need another 2,500

full-paying adults every game

for 16 games to cover that loss.

And that's the scale.

Today, there's a new stadium booking to schedule -

a major football tournament.

The 28th, and the final's on the 31st.

That's my birthday, Dave.

I don't want to work on my birthday again.

And while the rugby season remains alive,

match day hospitality can still be shifted.

I just sold two boxes in the last ten minutes, which is brilliant.

Actually brilliant.

It's because we're in the race for the play-offs. It does make a difference.

What a good day this turned out to be!

Things aren't going so swimmingly in Pembrokeshire.

After the zipwire antics, the players are back on firm ground.

But finding a firm pitch remains a challenge.

We're struggling to find somewhere to train after all the rain.

Narberth Rugby Club have been kind enough to allow us to train here.

At one stage we were on the Astroturf in Tenby.

That was an hour ago - it was only an hour before the session that we found somewhere to train.

People don't realise the stresses the team manager goes through.

Even at short notice,

word has got around that the Scarlets are in town.

It's quite cool that they are training in Narberth.

I think it's good for the community

and the children like to see the players.

It's nice for them.

The first thing is, the colour I call, if it's a white,

we're latching on, sending him through, go to ground, call that off.

Throw him through that contact.

The coaches are turning up the heat.

The players will have to be red hot to beat Munster

but can they get fired up on a damp pitch?

Nice to be out and about in the fresh air

and somewhere...it's a bit muddier than we're used to, so it's good.

The room had a bath as well - like pigs in muck here!

One big beast will be missing from action this weekend.

Ace play-maker Rhys Priestland is out injured.

But there's still some important work for him to do in the Scarlets' cause.

# Sosban fach yn berwi ar y tan

# Sosban fawr yn berwi ar y llawr... #

As players, you've got a responsibility to the region.

These kids come down and support us, so it's nice for us to support them.

You do forget until you come to schools like this

how many of these kids aspire to be where we are today.

Even stars were children once,

as another Scarlets legend knows very well.

When I was a child,

there was one international from my village in Bancyfelin

and I thought he was God.

I'm sure these children feel the same.

It gives me great pleasure to see the thrill on the children's faces,

that they're talking to international players.

Delme Thomas captained the Llanelli team

that beat the mighty All Blacks.

-TV COMMENTARY:

-'Baited breath.'

It's a triumph that every local school child knows all about,

but it happened 40 years ago.

'The cross bar!'

When it comes to building a modern professional rugby franchise,

some might question whether such a glorious past is a boon or a burden.

'History has been made!'

But the chief executive has no doubts.

Tradition is the heart of what we are

but we can't rely on that tradition

to generate the cash.

We have to still be better than the next man

at whatever level of competition we're in,

otherwise we're not going to survive.

Back in the training barn, it's time to rehearse the key plays.

How was that pass, Molly? To you.

Tell each other.

I'm not on the field Saturday

so they have to learn to make decisions themselves.

I'm putting different scenarios to them to make the right calls.

They have to make them on Saturday

so there's no point me making them here, is there?

That's the theory, anyway.

At the moment, you're, like... I'm not an option.

It's going to blue.

You've got to look like

-because you never know when you're going to get it.

-Yeah.

Normally, it would be out to the training pitch now

but today there's a last-minute change of plan

and it won't please Luke.

Yeah, yeah.

The last full-on training before facing Munster will be out on the main pitch.

Try and stay off it as much as we can to give it time to, erm...

to prepare well for game day, and that's the most important day.

But our top pitch is flooded

so we just need to utilise what we can when we can, really.

Last to leave are the kickers -

the players who win or lose games when the margins are fine.

And with Rhys Priestland injured, 20-year-old Owen Williams

will need to keep calm under pressure against the Irish.

But at the moment, he's coming under pressure from Luke.

He wants me to go off halfway.

The coaches who ticked him off just days ago

are now asking him to step up to the greatest challenge of his life.

It's a must-win game. We've got to win the next three or four games.

While the Welsh boys are away, it's a big period, really.

Hopefully we can go all the way this year and try and win the league.

Match day is also the team manager's 40th birthday.

If we win, we will be out celebrating.

If we lose, it'll be a difficult evening.

No longer a player, he's still caught up in the magic.

For me, it's still game day.

We still get the pre-match nerves and emotions.

I can't imagine not having them on the weekend.

Even though it adds to the stress levels,

there's still a bit of excitement flowing through the veins.

Everyone wants the paying public to get their money's worth.

This is one of our business clubs and everybody wants to come in here.

This is the place to be for hospitality.

Everybody gets to network and mingle

and really have a nice time.

In mission control, it's all systems go.

Basically, we can pick any part of the ground up.

We can zoom in on anything.

The equipment - state of the art.

The operators...

That's the road outside.

..straightforward Llanelli men.

But that doesn't mean they don't know how much power they've got.

We have the final call on everything to do with the stadium.

If this game needs to be stopped, it will be stopped from here.

Yes, big deal.

The biggest deal would be a W in the win column.

And though the Scarlets' Welsh internationals aren't playing,

they're here to lend support.

I would say a W by five.

You heard it here first. Cheers.

But some people just can't win tonight.

The part you don't want them to play in -

the first scrum, in that part of the pitch,

I'll be pulling my hair out. I hate scrums.

Next door to the pitch, the supporters' village is packed

with proof that regional rugby is now a family affair.

There's something for everybody.

The parents, they bring their grandparents.

Nobody's excluded. You can all come down.

It's lush.

Even they tiny-weeny little ones come and play tag rugby.

It's the most beautiful thing to watch,

tiny little boys and girls.

And they just love it. Everybody's always really happy down here.

Even the boss that I work for can grin now and again.

There you go. See!

Let's get behind the boys this evening.

It's a very, very important game.

-TANNOY:

-Number four, George Earle.

Parc Y Scarlets may be buzzing tonight, but Mark won't rest easy

until he's told the official attendance figures -

how many thousands, how many hundreds.

6,700. Let me check on the screen.

What? 6,800!

Busy. Much busier in comparison to the last game.

OK. Good. OK.

I would have liked it to have got just over 7,000

but it sounds like 6,800

with a couple of people still coming through.

It's difficult in an international period.

There's only so much rugby. We've got a lot of home games.

It's going to be harder.

It's hard to draw a big crowd when the Six Nations is in full swing.

But it will be even harder next time

if the Scarlets slip down in the league.

So it's game on.

The Scarlets are underdogs, and their season's in the balance.

Munster stalwart Ronan O'Gara knows how to buy a cheap penalty.

But the highest scoring Irish international

doesn't get the points this time.

It's the number ten opposite him who plays like a veteran.

Owen Williams has got his game head on...

..and he can't put a foot wrong.

Harsh words, tough training, quality time together -

it's all paying off now.

Is this the edge that coasteering gives you?

Ice cool nerves.

No-one realises it yet

but the Scarlets will soon be losing their match-winner.

Owen Williams has kicked himself into a contract

with a big-spending English club.

And he won' be the last to leave.

I was nervous, playing against one of the best tens

there's been in Britain for a while now.

He's been on Lions tours and everything.

I was nervous, but once the game started they seemed to go away

and it was just another rugby game.

Tonight, the victory is what matters.

For the team manager, it's a happy birthday.

A couple of nights at Bluestone!

No, congratulations, Gar. There's something in there from the lads.

I'll enjoy it after a fabulous win. Thank you for that one.

I would have been depressed otherwise. Well done.

To mark the win, there's the ritual singing of the team anthem.

# Mil a thri chant o flynyddoedd... #

It's a sound they hope to hear more often in the coming weeks.

You can feel a positive wave of enthusiasm

and that's what causes people to stay here.

That's what causes people to want to come to the next game.

That's what the difference was.

But just as the winter gloom lifts,

a spring storm is about to hit Parc Y Scarlets.

It's about time Welsh rugby got its act together.

It's the soap opera of Welsh rugby again.

We're puppets in that soap opera.

We've made it clear about our position in terms of discussing individual contracts.

I won't use the term "disaster", shall I?