Llanelli Scarlets coach Nigel Davies accepted his players got what they deserved after their 26-16 defeat to Ulster.
Scarlets boss vents his fury after European elimination
Llanelli Scarlets coach Nigel Davies accepted his players got what they deserved after their disappointing 26-16 defeat to Ulster at Ravenhill.
Neither side were in the reckoning to qualify for the quarter-final stages of the Heineken Cup, although a bonus-point victory would have seen Ulster put slight pressure on second-placed Stade Francais.
After going into the interval 18-6 ahead thanks to tries from Darren Cave and Simon Danielli, Ulster pushed on with a try from David Pollock and an eventual haul of 11 points from the boot of Ian Humphreys.
The win was Ulster's fourth on the bounce and Davies admitted his Scarlets side rarely threatened in what was a below-par display at Ravenhill.
"We got what we deserved," he said.
"In the first half we were very poor, we made mistakes and they turned us over. We just couldn't deal with it in the first half.
"In the second half we made some gains but we were always chasing the game. The big problem was that we gave them the game in the opening half.
Momentum
"We're now out (of Europe) but we've got to front up. We need a couple of wins now to get some confidence back. All credit to Ulster, they deserved it."
Ulster assistant coach Steve Williams felt the victory over Scarlets should have been more emphatic.
Williams was delighted at aspects of his side's performance and the way they controlled the game and prevented Llanelli from getting any momentum into their play.
"The boys implemented what we asked them to do and I thought we controlled things really well for most of the first half," he said.
"I thought we should have scored a few more tries but we were still pleased with the result and it was good that two of our tries came from turnovers.
"It showed the hunger of our players, and now we've got to go over there and have a crack at them.
"We should have confidence and shouldn't have any fear about taking them on."
