Plucky Scarlets Secure Crucial Losing Bonus Point

Typically, an important top of the table clash is one of the fixtures of the season, but for the second year in a row, and for reasons unknown, both the home and away fixtures against Leinster are played during the Six Nations window, with both teams severly depleated.
Steve Cummins and Josh Macleod are the only two changes from the starting XV that were left bitterly disappointed out in Treviso.
With both teams on the losing side last weekend, the emphasis that’s been put on a win this week has been huge as the remaining Scarlets players aim to accumulate enough points during this period to make the knock-out stages once more.
Led out by Captain, Steff Hughes, hoping to celebrate his 24th Birthday with a win, the Scarlets weathered an early attack from Leinster until Ex-Leinster player, Tadhg Beirne secured his 39th turn-over of the season to relieve the pressure on the visitors and set up a Scarlets attack.
Superb hands from the forwards, including Beirne, Macleod and James Davies led to the first try of the afternoon, with Davies releasing Johnny McNicholl who dived over in the corner. Unfortunately, the Full Back, who has only just returned to action following a shoulder injury took another knock to the shoulder whilst crossing the line and had to be replaced by Corey Baldwin. Dan Jones added a superb touch-line conversion to give the Scarlets a 0 point to 7 lead.
Even after just a matter of minutes played, the difference in performance from last weekend was evident as the Scarlets appeared far more organized in defence until Wing James Lowe raced in for the home side’s first try of the afternoon. Ross Byrne’s conversion attempt hit the posts, keeping the Scarlets in the lead by 5 points to 7.
However, the home team were soon back on the attack and it took another huge defensive effort from Beirne, that saw him demonstrate his immense footballing skills in front of his former home crowd. His break saw the Scarlets turn defence into attack. Try number two was on the cards following a clever chip over the Leinster defence from Dan Jones, but possibly the wrong decision from Paul Asquith saw Leinster successfully keep the Scarlets out.
A steal at the line-out and a charge down of Jon Evans’ clearing kick saw the home team take full advantage of Scarlets errors to claim try number two, with Lowe stretching over to ground the ball. Again, Byrne was unable to add the extras as the home team took the lead for the first time – 10 points to 7, as the first half reached its end.
The second half couldn’t have started any worse for the Scarlets as it took just 30 seconds for Leinster to score try number three. It was that man Lowe again who broke through the Scarlets’ defence before releasing Scrum Half, Luke McGrath who crossed the white-wash. Replacement, Ciaran Frawley added the conversion to give Leinster the lead by 17 points to 7.
With added confidence, Leinster continued to pile the pressure on, forcing the Scarlets to maintain their defensive efforts. A high tackle on Steff Hughes offered Dan Jones the opportunity to narrow Leinster’s lead. The Outside Half’s successful kick brought the Scarlets back within losing bonus point territory – 17 points to 10.
With decisions from the Irish referee, John Lacey increasingly going against the Scarlets, the visitors had difficulty maintaining any real possession and struggled to leave their half. A penalty against James Davies at the breakdown saw another successful kick from Frawley with 10 minutes of the match remaining put Leinster further ahead by 20 points to 10.
It was almost déjà vu for the Scarlets as they faced ending the game with 14 men following an injury to Tom Prydie and no one left on the bench to take his place.
Immense work from the forwards at the scrum offered Dan Jones an opportunity to re-gain the losing bonus point, however his attempt was well wide.
However, the young Scarlets dug deep with replacement Front Row Phil Price, Emyr Phillips and Simon Gardiner immense in the scrum, securing the opportunity for the visitors to clinch something from the game. Dan Jones’ successful kick gave the Scarlets an important bonus point as he narrowed the margin to 20 points to 13 at the final whistle.
After the game a pleased Wayne Pivac commented “For us, it was a big step up and a big improvement on last week’s performance. To hold them scoreless after that try just after half time was very pleasing.”
He added, “We managed the territory a lot better than last week and as a result we were in a position to score some points, keep in touch with Leinster and ultimately get that point.”
Due to such a large number of players unavailable, Pivac stated midweek that they were hoping for no injuries. With two important home clashes up next against Ulster and Leinster, McNicholl and Prydie leaving the pitch will cause further headaches for the coaching team with Pivac concluding “The depth is certainly being tested, more so than ever before.” Both will be assessed by the medical team on Monday with regards to the seriousness of the injuries.
Next Saturday, as well as the continuation of the Six Nations, with Wales travelling over to the Emerald Isle to face Ireland, the Scarlets welcome Ulster to Parc y Scarlets. Kick-off is at 7.35pm.