Scarlets and Wales flanker Aaron Shingler is eager to put the pain of the loss to Australia behind him against Exeter Chiefs in the Heineken Cup.
Shingler returned to the Scarlets after a punishing November International series with Wales which saw four consecutive defeats to Argentina, Samoa, New Zealand then agonisingly to Australia last weekend, an experience that Shingler is eager to put behind him against Exeter.
"It was pretty brutal, and the knocks always feel worse when you've lost," said Shingler to the South Wales Evening Post.
"It was very disappointing not to get a win, but that's the way it goes sometimes."
Shingler broke through into the Wales side after Ryan Jones was dropped to the bench following the shock loss to Samoa, proving to be a rare positive for Wales with his performances against the All Blacks and the Wallabies.
"It's important now I've got a feel for the international stage. I want more of it," added Shingler.
"Hopefully over the next two months I can put in some performances which will warrant me playing again.
"It's given me a lot of confidence in my own ability and playing the two best teams in the world can only improve me as a player. Hopefully this weekend I'll show that."
Having lost their opening two matches in this year's Heineken Cup, Shingler admits that the Scarlets hopes of qualification are hanging by a thread. Coming straight in from the intensity of Test rugby however is something he believes will serve him well against Exeter.
"I think playing Australia the week before will give me the best preparation for the intensity and physicality which will come this weekend. We feel well prepared and the squad's looking quite sharp," added Shingler.
"I'm really looking forward to putting the Scarlets shirt back on and, hopefully, getting the win."
"It's been disappointing. We didn't perform well enough against two very good teams.
"Back-to-back against Exeter, we basically have to win twice and show what we can do at Heineken Cup level. Every time you hear the word Exeter, people are talking them up, saying they're a good team, which they are. They've improved a lot.
"The test is going to be massive and it's going to be a challenging game."
Comments
rugby_rockstar says...
this'll be interesting. The first step when facing the Cheifs is to front up to their pack. Not Llanelli's strong point. Don't under estimate Exeter's attack either. They epitomise the basics first concept towards sucessful rugby. they don't obsess over scoring tries and looking pretty, their tries come from good basics and they score a fair few of them. In a way this is a labratory test of bread and butter vs the wide ranging running and off loading game of Llanelli. (Yes, I still refuse to call a club with such a proud history, The Scarlets)
Posted 09:22 07th December 2012