Scarlets were without some key figures in Newport in locks Jake Ball and Sam Lousi, Blair Murray, Johnny Williams and Sam Costelow. But the level of performance will be worrying for Peel just weeks after a turnaround in form had seen impressive victories over Glasgow and Cardiff.
After a tight first 40 where Dragons led 7-5 thanks to Angus O’Brien’s conversion of fly-half Tinus de Beer’s early score, Scarlets replied with wing Ellis Mee going over just before the break, but the half would be littered with errors.
The visitors lost lock Max Douglas to an upgraded 20-minute red card for a dangerous clear-out almost immediately after the restart and were made to pay by the recently revived Dragons who would take advantage of the extra man.
The home side would play off further poor execution and ill-discipline from the visitors to move into a 21-5 lead.
Tries from hooker Oli Burrows and wing David Richards sealing the contest, before their attacking bonus was clinched in the 75th minute through replacement hooker George Roberts.
It would be the second regional derby defeat after the Boxing Day loss at home to rivals Ospreys for under pressure Peel’s side, who remain rooted to the bottom of the URC table.
Dragons second win in three league matches meanwhile rise Filo Tiatia’s side to 11th before the six remaining rounds of fixtures are played over the course of the weekend.
“We’ve had a disappointing week with two derby losses,” said Peel after the match.
“We had some high-profile games with Bristol and Bordeaux-Begles, then backed that up in Cardiff, but we have fallen off in the last two weeks.
“We’ve picked up a few injuries but there are no excuses, we weren’t at our best today and had enough on the field to produce some good stuff.”
Scarlets, who were the sole Welsh region in the URC’s top eight last season next resume Champions Cup European duties with a chance to stop the rot and kick-start their faltering campaign.
French side Pau pose a daunting task at Parc y Scarlets, but one with rewards, with a bonus-point win likely to be enough for qualification for the knockout stages of the competition.
“It’s a massive game for us now,” admitted the head coach. “They are flying high in the Top 14, and we’ve played in some really high intensity, physical games in recent weeks.
“That will be another one and then we have Northampton the week after. There are tough games ahead but that’s the nature of the beast.”
[Lead image: Scarlets Rugby]
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