The Scarlets begin their European campaign in France on Sunday. Rob Cole says Leigh Halfpenny will be among the points-scorers, but may have one particular score to settle with one particular club owner.

 

Leigh Halfpenny has put his boot into many teams around the world during his career, but there might just be a little bit more relish going into his kicks at goal when he returns to Toulon for the Scarlets opening game in the Champions Cup on Sunday.

The Wales and British & Irish Lions full back was staggered to find at the end of last season that the one-year contract extension that was originally on the table with the Top 14 side somehow ended up in the waste paper bin.

Mourad Boudjellal, the Toulon president, is not one to stand on sentiment. He was delighted to see his highly-prized full-back guide his club into the TOP 14 final, but not so thrilled to see him depart with the Lions to New Zealand before the last act of the season against the eventual winners, Clermont-Auvergne.

Hell hath no fury like a French rugby President scorned, even if Halfpenny had negotiated a release clause within his contract to play for the Lions. Would you really want to get rid of a player who always delivered in the pressure matches and was your highest points scorer each season when fit?

Obviously, because they did! As fate would have it, Scarlets were once again drawn with Toulon in this season’s Champions Cup and that means a return to his old stamping ground in Round 1 for Halfpenny.

“I had agreed a long time ago to stay at Toulon for one more season, but for whatever reason there were delays, delays and more delays. It got to the point just before the TOP 14 semi-final where everything had been agreed, and it was just a case of signing the contract, but it never came through,” said Halfpenny.

“When I was in New Zealand with the Lions I found out that there wasn’t an option for me. I won’t lie, it was tough and a huge surprise.

“I was able to negotiate a release in my contract that stated if I was selected for the Lions I’d be able to go to New Zealand. The contract I signed was for two years with an extra one-year option.”

Halfpenny averaged 15 points per game in the TOP 14 last season and was a key player in the quarter-final and semi-final wins over Castres Olympique and La Rochelle. He scored 21 of his side’s 26 points against Castres and kicked 15 of the 18 against La Rochelle.

“After playing all season with the club, and helping the boys to get to the final, it wasn’t easy leaving them for the biggest game of the year. At the same time, everyone was aware of the Lions tour and, for me, going on tour to New Zealand is just the pinnacle of any rugby player’s career,” he added.

“I felt I had to take that privileged opportunity and I had the release in my contract. I felt there wasn’t a problem.”

Having won the Challenge Cup with Cardiff Blues in 2010, and reached the semi-finals of the European Cup the following year, Halfpenny became one of only 10 Welshmen to have won a European Cup title when he helped Toulon make it three in a row at Twickenham in 2015.

He scored 106 points that season in Europe, including 14 in the final triumph over Clermont Auvergne, to prove to Boudjellal there could be life after Jonny Wilkinson. He played in the 2016 TOP 14 final defeat by Racing 92 in Barcelona, kicking 11 points in a 29-21 reverse, and can generally look back pretty positively on his time in the south of France.

When the Scarlets went to Stade Mayol in the first round of the 2014/15 season, Halfpenny was in the home dressing room lining up alongside such household names as Ma’a Nonu, Bryan Habana, Matt Giteau, Carl Hayman, Bakkies Botha, Juan Fernandez Lobbe and Juan Smith. He scored 13 points in a 28-18 win and then added 13 more in the 26-3 win at Parc Y Scarlets.

Last year it was even close, with the Welsh region going down 31-20 away from home, but winning 22-21 in the return. Halfpenny scored 16 points on home soil, then kicked seven penalties at Parc Y Scarlets, but fatally missed with a potential match-winning kick at the death.

This time he will be in the away dressing-room at Stade Mayol, but will return with a Scarlets side boasting a PRO12 title and full of confidence after a good start to the season. Europe is their next frontier and how they fare against Toulon, Bath and Benetton will determine whether or not they are ready to take the next step in their development.