Scarlets fever owes so much to the high tempo of the unsung big men

After a brilliant display in beating Munster, the reigning Heineken Cup champions, 24-15 on Friday evening, Llanelli have now to descend from the clouds of joy that are still enveloping Stradey to contemplate the sobering reality of a visit to Leicester or Stade Francais in the semi-finals.

Whatever happened to neutral venues for semi-finals? Whoever wins today's clash between Leicester and Stade will have the enormous bonus of home advantage against the Scarlets. But the Welsh club should not allow this unkind reward for subduing the might of Munster to rob them of the confi-dence they are now carrying forward to the next stage.

Wherever they go, they will take with them a strong belief in a style of play that has lifted them to a level of performance that can challenge anyone. But for all the eye-catching individual performances that lit up Friday night - and Stephen Jones was my man of the match - it was the Llanelli front five who were the real match-winners.

This superb Scarlets unit have not had the accolades they deserve as they have powered the team on an unbeaten route through a group containing Toulouse, Ulster and London Irish. Front fives are the most vital part of modern rugby. The backs get all the glamour, but rugby is a forward-orientated game. With them on top you can achieve anything. If they struggle, your backs will be shovelling manure for 80 minutes.

That was Jones's fate for most of the recent Six Nations, and for his pains he was subjected to a stream of the most vicious and unfounded criticism I can remember. Ironically, he was absent when the Welsh pack eventually came good against England and James Hook stepped in to play a blinder.

When I pointed out that Jones had not had the luxury of playing behind dominant Welsh forwards, I was accused of minimising Hook's display. It was nothing of the sort. Hook is a tremendous prospect, but I was merely empha-sising the importance of the pack an outside- half plays behind.

Mine was not a popular point of view but it was shared by the former All Black skipper Sean Fitzpatrick, who forecast that Jones would silence his critics with an inspirational display. He certainly did that. Jones was in his element and he epitomises Llanelli's attitude and commitment. His tactical choices were spot- on and his defence was immense.

His tackle count is the third highest in the competition. He is up there with Serge Betsen, Thomas Lievremont and Simon Easterby, and he is not even a back-rower. The work he does is incredible. The fierce way he winkled the ball out of a ruck for Gavin Thomas's try brought him into a heated confrontation with Ronan O'Gara, who looked shocked by Jones's aggression.

Jones also started the stunning move that led to the clinching try by Barry Davies. He could have belted the ball into the corner but he began the movement that saw Scott MacLeod offload brilliantly to Davies.

It is not often that O'Gara is in the shade, and the two penalties he missed early on didn't help Munster. O'Gara was not assisted either by the fact that Stradey is a difficult place to kick in when there's a wind. He is more used recently to being surrounded by high stands.

Not only do a rampant front five provide a platform for the half- backs, they give the back row the chance to dominate, and Thomas, Easterby and Alix Popham took full advantage.

The Scarlets have more of an all-round game than they took into previous forays into the final stages of the Heineken. They also have a clever tactical approach.

From the outset they adopted a high-intensity, high-pace approach that set the pattern for a terrific game to watch. Munster prefer a steady start, probing for field position and building up pressure, but they were forced into a much higher tempo than they would have liked.

Having powered their way to a 17-0 half-time lead, Llanelli could have scored three tries early in the second half before Munster got themselves into the game. But Llanelli reimposed their superiority in the style that gives them every chance of going all the way.

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