ALL eyes will be on tomorrow's televised draw after Saracens booked an EDF Energy Cup semi-final place at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium after securing the losing bonus points they needed after a 36-32 defeat to Llanelli Scarlets at a soaked Stradey Park.

On a grim afternoon in Camarthenshire, Scarlets took a 16-7 lead into the break thanks to Scott Macleod's converted try and three Stephen Jones penalties. Sarries had sneaked a 6-7 lead after referee Dave Pearson awarded a penalty try and they could have reduced the deficit by half time if it had no been for some staunch Scarlets defending.

However, the Men in Black's own defence fell to pieces early in he second half as a converted score for Jones and tries from Jon Davies and Garan Evans, after Adam Powell had crossed for the visitors, put Scarlets in command at 33-14.

Kameli Ratuvou's try put Sarries within a converted score before another Jones penalty swung the game back in favour of the hosts.

The Men in Black, however showed great heart and were awarded a dubious penalty try, converted by replacement Andy Farrell, to reduce the gap to 10 points with ten minutes left and secure the first bonus point. And it was Farrell who got them to within that crucial seven point deficit for the second with a 73rd minute penalty in front of the posts. The much maligned England centre then booted over another three pointer in the last minute to cap a remarkable turnaround.

Sarries made several changes to the side that edged out London Irish. Director of rugby Alan Gaffney chose to field an all international front row of Kevin Yates, Fabio Ongaro and Cobus Visagie, while Iain Fullarton was restored to the second row and Ben Skirving took his place at the back of the scrum. In the backs, Francisco Leonelli started at full-back while Moses Rauluni and Gordon Ross formed the half-back pairing.

Playing against the strong wind in the first half Sarries coughed up an early penalty, but Stephen Jones could not find accuracy with his kick from around 55 metres. However, the Welsh number ten made no mistake in the 10th minute after Rauluni was penalized for holding on after a mean tackle by Gavin Thomas.

Scarlets continued to play with zest and their pressure was rewarded with another Jones three pointer after Sarries had strayed offside.

Back came Sarries and after Paul Gustard and Iain Fullarton had gained ground, Ross tried a clever grubber kick through to the on-rushing Kameli Ratuvou, but Scarlets full-back Morgan Stoddart booted the ball into touch. From the line-out, Sarries worked the catch and drive and crossed the whitewash but, after consulting the TMO, referee Dave Pearson decided he could not award the try because the footage was inconclusive.

Sarries continued to press at the line as Scarlets infringed but the hosts dug deep to regain possession. Ross was then presented with his first attempt at goal after Scarlets lock Adam Eustace came in from the side of a ruck, but the Scot's wayward kick was made to look much worse than it was by the repellant wind.

Referee Pearson finally lost patience with Scarlets skipper Simon Easterby for persistent offending and, with the man advantage, the Men in Black's scrum again asked questions of the hosts and with Deacon Manu cynically pulling it down Pearson ran under the posts to award a penalty try.

Italy hooker Ongaro, brought in to stabilise Sarries' shaky line-out of recent weeks, then lost two in quick succession and Llanelli seized the advantage. After the working the ball from one side of the park to the other, full-back Stoddart produced a magnificent break through the middle, riding three half-hearted tackles before the Llanelli forwards took control. After working a two man overlap on the right, Scotland international Macleod needed no second invitation to slide over in the corner. Jones added the extras and further extended his side's lead with a penalty on the stroke of half time after Visagie held on in the tackle.

Things got worse for Sarries just minutes into the restart when the Scarlets fashioned their second try of the afternoon. After collecting Ross's aimless kick on his own 22, Stoddart burst forward before being stopped in his tracks. Several phases later Peel combined with Jones for the latter to crash over near the posts. He converted his own score to make it 23-7.

Sarries needed a quick response and got one. After Ross re-gathered his chip and chase in midfield the ball was worked outside for Ratuvou to tear up the turf. In the second phase and with Scarlets resetting their defence, Sarries worked the ball across centre for Adam Powell to dart over. Ross converted before being replaced.

Anyone who thought that was the start of a comeback by the visitors was sorely mistaken. Embarrassing defending by Ratuvou and Leonelli allowed Jon Davies an easy dash to the line before wing Garan Evans secured a bonus point minutes later after leaving Ben Skirving for dead.

Men in Black replacements Edd Thrower and Farrell combined to put in Ratuvou in the corner as Sarries reduced the deficit to 14 points with 20 minutes left but another Jones penalty gave Scarlets the necessary breathing space.

However, Sarries were given a lifeline when Pearson awarded them a second penalty try with just over 10 minutes remaining, despite the visitors appearing to have lost control of the ball in the scrum.

Farrell fired over a straight forward penalty with eight minutes left before making sure of his side's place in the last four with another goal in the final seconds.

Scoring sequence: 3-0/6-0/6-5/6-7/11-7/13-7/16-7 HT/21-7/23-7/23-12/23-14/28-14/33-14/33-19/36-19/36-24/36-26/36-29/36-32