Tries from Kemsley Matias Dan Davis and a double from lively wing Tomi Lewis would lead Dwayne Peel’s side to a rare bonus point victory. A late rally from the Dragons saw replacement Sio Tomkinson score a brace but the Dragons would be well beaten on the day.
After a nervy start from both sides, a pair of penalties would be all to write home about on the scoreboard, both shared for infringements in the first quarter of the match.
The game, however, would come to life on the half-hour mark. Mathias would be first to power over for the west Wallians who would up the gears before the break. The Wales hooker emerged from a pile of bodies after the Scarlets had executed the driving maul from a well-worked lineout.
Despite being reduced a man losing centre Eddie James temporarily to the sin bin for an overzealous challenge on opposite number Aneurin Owen, Peel’s side would be the more clinical of the two sides and would add a second try.
Good build-up play from scrum-half Gareth Davies seeing the veteran Wales man gain territory allowing the electric pace of Lewis to open up the Dragons defense, before the wing would offload to flanker Dan Davis to finish the move under the posts.
Lewis would be sharp on a day where Scarlets would show encouraging signs to their beleaguered support after a tough season. The wing anticipating Rio Dyer’s pass after the Dragons flyer would be caught in possession trying to force the tempo in midfield before gleefully sprinting under the posts.
The match would then be over as a contest minutes later as Lewis would collect his second try of the afternoon. Clever footwork from Ryan Elias controlling a difficult ball had seen the Scarlets captain feed Ioan Lloyd to burst free. The Wales fly-half feeding the ball wide in a flowing passing move resulting in Lewis going over in the corner.
The Dragons would finally find some fire in the final quarter and would reduce their deficit with departing replacement Tomkinson twice going over in the corner. The first a neat finish after a lineout that had been spread quickly to the left and then a quick put-in to the scrum from Taine Basham seeing Will Reed find the Kiwi unopposed in the same corner.
In general, the Dragons would find their opponents marshalled by the outstanding lock Alex Craig a tough nut to crack. Staunch defense closing out any threat of a comeback to see the Scarlets to only their fifth win of the season.
Scarlets’ man of the match Alex Craig told S4C:
“We wanted to finish well, it’s been a tough season for us, but to finish like that is exactly what we wanted.
“There’s a great bunch of boys here, they work hard all year, maybe results-wise we haven’t got what we deserved, but like I say a great bunch and I enjoy playing with them every week.”
Scarlets XV:
Ioan Nicholas; Tomi Lewis, Johnny Williams, Eddie James, Ryan Conbeer; Sam Costelow, Gareth Davies; Kemsley Mathias, Ryan Elias (captain), Harri O’Connor, Alex Craig, Sam Lousi, Taine Plumtree, Dan Davis, Carwyn Tuipulotu.
Replacements:
Shaun Evans, Wyn Jones, Sam Wainwright, Morgan Jones, Jarrod Taylor, Kieran Hardy, Ioan Lloyd, Macs Page.
Dragons XV:
Ewan Rosser; Rio Dyer, Joe Westwood, Aneurin Owen, Chris Hollis; Will Reed, Rhodri Williams (capt); Rhodri Jones, Brodie Coghlan, Chris Coleman, Ben Carter, Matthew Screech, Ryan Woodman, Taine Basham, Aaron Wainwright.
Replacements:
James Benjamin, Rodrigo Martinez, Dmitri Arhip, George Nott, Dan Lydiate, Che Hope, Steff Hughes, Sio Tomkinson.
[Lead image: Scarlets Rugby]
