ACCORDING to many they were beaten before they left Wales. According to many more they were beaten when trailing by 21 points. But this Llanelli side is different to many that have gone before them in the Heineken Cup and they showed exactly why in the closing stages of a pulsating game as they somehow snatched the most unlikely of victories, 41-34.

Maximum points, and the Scarlets edge closer to a home quarter-final. A single bonus point and the French giants amazingly wave farewell to this seasons Heineken Cup at the first hurdle.

Despite Dafydd James' first-half try, a French win seemed assured when Clement Poitrenaud scored his and Toulouse's fourth try early in the second half. But a thrilling fightback by the Welsh saw Darren Daniel, twice, and Barry Davies cross to bring Scarlets level. Then a Regan King break sent Nathan Thomas over to seal an incredible win. All this was underpinned by a fantastic display from Stephen Jones.

The Wales and Lions out-half marshalled the Scarlets superbly and added a crucial 16 points with the boot.

It was Jones who struck an early penalty for the Scarlets, but that was the high point of the first quarter for the Welsh. The Scarlets fumbled the restart and then went missing in defence as Florian Fritz darted through a huge gap and sent Poitrenaud over, Valentin Courrent adding a simple conversion.

Out-half Gaffie du Toit hit a drop-goal before Poitrenaud struck again.

The full back started a move that saw the French sweep from their own half into the Scarlets' 22. Lock Patricio Albacete fielded a cheeky overhead pass to straighten the attack, setting the ball for Jean Bouilhou to send Poitrenaud over in the left corner and Toulouse led 17-3.

Before the clock hit the half-hour mark Poitrenaud had his hat-trick, as a sloppy Scarlets turnover invited a swift counter-attack. Maleli Kunavore . . . starting at outside centre after the late withdrawal of Yannick Jauzion . . .

raced down the blind side before chipping ahead for Poitrenaud to claim another seven-pointer.

Toulouse lost their captain Fabien Pelous to injury after the France lock came down heavily on his ankle from a line-out jump, Romain MilloChlusky replacing him. With the Toulouse pack distracted, Scarlets managed to win a scrum against the head and release their backline. Regan King slipped a pass out of the tackle and James picked the perfect inside line off his wing to claim his 26th try in Europe. Jones converted to give the Scarlets a foothold in the match at 24-10.

Within seven minutes of the restart Toulouse had secured a bonus point for their fourth try, and incredibly it was that man Poitrenaud once again. But the French giants thought the job was done, they were given a rude awakening as Scarlets hit back with two tries in three minutes. First Alix Popham sent Daniel away; then a trademark dart from scrumhalf Dwayne Peel paved Davies' way to the try line.

Jones converted both and then added a penalty to bring the Scarlets back to 31-27.

A penalty from Courrent pulled Toulouse away again, only for the Welsh to draw level with their fourth try courtesy of Daniel. With the scores tied, the scene was set for a thrilling finale. Trevor Brennan was held up by Daniel over the line, then Fritz was just wide with a drop-goal attempt. Scarlets absorbed the pressure and worked their way into enemy territory to produce the killer blow.

Jones dropped back for a mammoth drop-goal attempt, but as the Toulouse chasers zeroed in on the Wales outhalf he instead passed to King. The New Zealand-born centre jinked away to within five metres before being stopped, but replacement back-row Nathan Thomas was on hand to dive over.

The immaculate Jones, of course, added the conversion to seal a famous victory and send Toulouse out of the Heineken Cup.

TOULOUSE C Poitrenaud; V Clerc, M Kunavore, F Fritz, C Heymans; G du Toit, V Courrent; D Human, Y Bru (c), J-B Poux, F Pelous, P Albacete, J Bouilhou, T Dusatoir, G Lamboley Subs V Lacombe for Bru, 65 mins;

R Millo-Chlusky for Pelous, 39 mins; Y Nyanga for Lamboley, 58 mins; J-B Elissalde for Courrent, 74 mins; B Baby for Poitrenaud, 75 mins; T Brennan for Bouilhou, 76 mins LLANELLI B Davies; D James, R King, G Evans, D Daniel; S Jones, D Peel (c); I Thomas, M Rees, C Dunlea, A Jones, S MacLeod, D Jones, G Thomas, A Popham Subs D Manu for Dunlea, 32 mins; I Afeaki for A Jones, 40 mins;

N Thomas for D Jones, 75 mins; G Evans for Daniel, 76 mins Referee Chris White (England)