In a classic Anglo-Welsh cup tie for the purists, it was the Bears who emerged with the spoils, courtesy of two tries from Fijian number eight Viliame Mata and a decisive third score from Wales international Louis Rees-Zammit.
After falling to an early 12-0 deficit, scrum-half Gareth Davies well taken score for the Scarlets and the boot of half-back partner Sam Costelow turned the tie on its head.
Two penalties from Costelow nudged the home side ahead 16-10, but Rees-Zammit’s score on 54 minutes proved enough for the English side to seal an opening day victory in the competition.
Scarlets boss Peel pointed to two decisive moments in the first-half where tries were chalked off from wing Tom Rogers and full back Jac Davies as game changers following intervention by the television match official.
In all though Peel was proud of his players effort and felt small margins of execution were the difference on the night.
“It was bitterly disappointing in the end,” said Peel post-match.
“We played well in some good patches of the game and really put them under pressure with a couple of disallowed tries early on.
“They were a bit of a killer, in all honesty with the momentum swing of the game.
“But towards the end, I think there was some key moments where we had a couple of lineouts in their 22 that we didn’t convert and conversely, they had one that they did.
“That is the game at this level and those are the takeaways.
“I am proud of the effort; it was huge from everyone. We really prepped well over the last couple of weeks. The level of performance was good; it’s just those key moments we need to improve on.
“The defensive shape and the overall gameplan [was good]. I thought we moved the ball well.
“It’s disappointing from where it is now, that is the nature of the beast, but we will learn our lessons and move on.
“We have a couple of really exciting games ahead of us now.
“The boys will be gutted after that loss, but the important thing is that we recover well and make sure we are ready for the next couple of weeks.”
Scarlets will look to dust themselves down before heading across the Channel to take on defending champions Bordeaux-Begles in their second Pool 4 fixture on Saturday.
[Lead image: Scarlets Rugby]
