1
Matthew Screech scored the winning try two minutes from time as Scarlets’ hopes of a European Champions Cup spot suffered a blow following a 34-32 defeat to Dragons at the Principality Stadium.
ADVERTISEMENT
It did not look likely when Dragons trailed 17-6 at half-time but 21 unanswered points in the third quarter set up their best win of the season.
Screech scored two tries for them, Jack Dixon the other with Josh Lewis kicking two penalties and three conversions and Jason Tovey one.
Johnny McNicholl scored two tries for Scarlets, Ioan Nicholas, Gareth Davies and Jonathan Davies the others, with Leigh Halfpenny adding two conversions and a penalty.
Dragons took a third-minute lead when Lewis picked himself up after being tackled late by Dan Jones to send over a penalty.
Continue reading below…
The first 15 minutes were easily forgettable as neither side could make any impact against resolute defences and it was left to Lewis to extend Dragons’ lead with his second penalty.
Soon afterwards, the Gwent region, suffered a blow when Amos, who was making his final appearance for them before his transfer to Cardiff Blues, was yellow carded for a deliberate knock-on.
ADVERTISEMENT
Scarlets took immediate advantage as Nicholas rewarded a period of pressure by forcing his way over for Halfpenny to convert for his side to lead 7-6 at the end of the first quarter.
In the absence of Amos, Scarlets turned down two kickable penalties and their decision was rewarded when McNicholl outflanked the cover defence to squeeze in at the corner.
Amos returned but he could not stem the tide as Gareth Davies sneaked over from close range and despite Halfpenny missing both conversions, Scarlets were in firm control at half-time with a 17-6 advantage.
Within two minutes of the restart, Dragons looked to have reduced the deficit when Ross Moriarty kicked ahead and crashed over but the TMO ruled that the Welsh international number eight had lost possession of the ball when it rebounded back off a post.
ADVERTISEMENT
Despite this setback, Dragons maintained their momentum to pick up a try from Screech with David Bulbring yellow carded in the aftermath before Scarlets’ prop, Samson Lee, was fortunate to escape another for a tip tackle.
Lewis missed a penalty before Dragons produced a superb try when Amos and Aaron Wainwright combined cleverly for Dixon to score.
Scarlets were stunned when Lewis hit them with a third try after intercepting a pass from Dan Jones to give Dragons a 10- point lead going into the final quarter.
Jones paid the penalty for his error as he was replaced by Rhys Patchell before Bulbring returned in time to see Jonathan Davies secure a bonus point with his side’s fourth try.
McNicholl brought his side level with his second before Halfpenny’s conversion and penalty looked to have seen Scarlets home until Screech’s effort crushed them with his try being awarded after countless replays that appeared to suggest that the lock had been dragged down short of the line.
PA
Comments on RugbyPass
The Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to comments