Locks Tristan Davies and Max Douglas are now doubtful for the west Wallian’s next two fixtures in South Africa against Emirates Lions and Hollywoodbets Sharks.
The second-row duo now join Sam Lousi and Wales front-rowers Jake Ball and Kemsley Mathias on the treatment table. Captain Josh Macleod is also unlikely to feature until after the international break.
Lacking power from the get-go, the Stormers dominated Peel’s side from start to finish, scoring five tries through flankers Evan Roos and Paul de Villiers, lock Ruben van Heerden, scrum-half Imad Khan and standout performer Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, with the fly-half also kicking seven points.
Full back Damian Willemse added a further two from the tee as the visitors secured a third straight win to stay top of the United Rugby Championship table.
The contest was always going to be a daunting fixture with in the inform Stormers, who had already dispatched of Leinster and Ospreys on home soil, bringing back several of the missing Springbok contingent back from international duty into their starting lineup.
For Peel’s injury-ravaged Scarlets, the on-point accuracy and power within a dominant scrum and maul would prove too much.
The loss would be the first time the west Wallians had been restricted to nil in a competitive fixture in 14 years, since a 20-0 reverse by Munster in Limerick back in April 2007.
Post-match, the Scarlets boss felt his side could have been more on point in the set-piece but admitted his side had been well beaten on the night.
“It was very difficult, I thought the Stormers were excellent,” said Peel.
“Their set-piece work was exceptional and as good as I’ve seen. Their maul and scrum were very good and put us under a lot of pressure.
“There are facets of the game where we need to get better because that’s the standard we need to chase.
“They [Stormers] are setting the standard in the league at the minute with wins over Leinster and Ospreys, and now us.
“But there are areas in our game within our control which we need to be better at, when we had the ball, we forced it at times and looked a bit ragged. We lost a couple of line-outs in their 22 early on, we didn’t get into our game at all, we didn’t have any momentum.
“The injury side of things is tough at the minute, we have lost another two locks tonight, so we have to see where we are before we travel to South Africa on Tuesday.
“Tristan [Davies] has a HIA and Max [Douglas] is in a bit of pain in the changing room with a rib issue, the rugby gods sometimes go against you in certain positions.
“We need to keep working hard and moving forward. We have lost two games.
“Three months ago, we had the same fixtures in South Africa, and the tour went pretty well for us.
“We also beat the Bulls here last season. We have to go there, look to improve as a rugby team and enjoy each other’s company off the field.”
[Lead image: Scarlets Rugby]
