It would be a disappointing way to finish a European campaign that has been a disaster from start to finish for the Scarlets, with the cruel reality of leaving the tournament as the only Welsh region pointless in their pool.
Some will point to a growing list of absentees with Sam Costelow, Tom Rodgers and suspended Johnny Williams joining a long list of first-teamers on the sidelines.
With a weakened team against a strong Edinburgh lineup it was going to be an ask, but the manner of the performance will concern Peel who had spoken about improvements in recent games.
Scotland and Lions duo Duhan van der Merwe and Hamish Watson were among the visiting try scorers in a five-try bonus point victory despite ending the match with 13 men.
In an ill-disciplined affair, the visitors breached the home defense with Scrum-half Ben Vellacott crashing over on their first visit to the Scarlets twenty-two.
Edinburgh doubled their lead almost immediately, veteran South African prop WP Nel also going over from close range as Scarlets looked shell-shocked.
The Scarlets looked to come back into the match when hooker David Cherry was sent to the bin for slowing play down. Making the most of the extra space, Wales call up Joe Roberts would finish out wide to reduce Peel’s side arrears.
But even with a man down, Edinburgh continued to dominate the proceedings, Van de Merwe finishing off after an excellent run from Argentinian winger Emiliano Boffelli.
Watson added salt to the wounds moments later, powering his way over the line to collect the bonus point the away side required to guarantee qualification.
Edinburgh would be back to a full quota again momentarily, but discipline would once again be the talking point with skipper Grant Gilchrist sent to the sin bin for a high tackle on Dan Davis just before the break.
The numerical advantage would only last minutes as after the restart Scarlets lock Alex Craig joined Gilchrist on the sidelines by being yellow carded for a similar high tackle. From the resulting infringement South African-born Scot Pierre Schoeman would power through following a lineout.
After a quiet period, referee Sara Gilchrist’s busy evening with the card continued with Gilchrist seeing red for a second high tackle of the night.
With the numbers game back on the Scarlets side, wing Ryan Conbeer would narrow the scoreline with a delightful score in the corner.
Van der Merwe would then join his captain on the sidelines conceding a penalty try late in the game for a deliberate knock on. But despite narrowing the gap it would be a sobering defeat for Peel whose side would be second best on the night.
“I was disappointed with the first-half, we gave them too many soft points through errors and discipline,” said Peel.
“Physically they dominated the middle of the field, and we couldn’t get speed of ball. That hurt us ultimately, when we did get speed of ball we did get through the edges.
“I thought the likes of Joe Roberts looked threatening tonight and Tomi Lewis is coming on as well was excellent.
“Ultimately, we piggy-backed them up the field and that’s the disappointing part for me, we have got to get better than that.
“Everyone now needs the break to look at areas that we have to improve. It has been 13 weeks of solid games, and we need to reflect and spend time on the training field.
“We need to get a few bodies back and make sure we are ready for Munster because it is going to be a huge game for us.”
[Lead image: Scarlets Rugby]
