Parkes ready for Ulster test

Editor

Scarlets centre Hadleigh Parkes, who has taken over the captaincy in Ken Owens' absence, says he is looking forward to their PRO12 clash with Ulster.

A dramatic late victory over Edinburgh last weekend ensured that Scarlets remained in the top four as they face two games on the road over the coming weeks, against Ulster and Edinburgh respectively.

With only one point separating the teams in first to fourth every point counts, which means their recent triumph was a critical result.

"It was very tight but a very important victory," he revealed.

"We probably didn't play in the right areas of the field at times and didn't look after the ball as much as we would have hoped but we really needed the win. It's going to be a big four weeks now and it was certainly good to get one from one."

Ulster currently top the PRO12 table with Connacht and Leinster in second and third positions respectively.

Looking ahead to Sunday's clash, Parkes went on to say: "Ulster are a good side and it's a tough place to go. It's going to be a tough challenge but also an exciting challenge at the same time.

"It's good that it's a tight competition but fortunately we're on the right part of the ladder. We're definitely still targeting top four. If we get a couple of good games over the next few weeks we can maybe look at the top two again."