Rhys Priestland: Late penalty secured the draw

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• Munster
• Scarlets

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Scarlets and Munster played out a cracking 20-all draw in Llanelli on Saturday as the hosts lost valuable ground on the top four in the RaboDirect PRO12.

Nigel Davies' men needed a penalty inside the final ten minutes from fly-half Rhys Priestland to secure the draw after the two teams had matched each other blow for blow.

The hosts looked in trouble in the 55th minute when an Ian Keatley penalty extended Munster's lead to ten points.

However, a try from flank Aaron Shingler and five points from the boot of Priestland ensured that honours ended even.

Neither team headed into this evening's game in decent form, although both had recorded wins a week earlier.

The first points of the match came during a frantic opening 15-minute period and the lion's share were scored by Munster.

Scarlets were the first off the mark, courtesy of a Sean Lamont try, but the visitors roared back and established a seven-point lead thanks to scores from Donnacha Ryan and Simon Zebo.

Munster then went further in front when Keatley booted over a penalty, although the hosts were able to reduce the deficit thanks to a three pointer from Priestland.

The two penalties seemed to slow the pace of the game following a quickfire start and there were to be no further points before half-time.

The beginning of the second half did not bring with it the avalanche of points we'd seen in the first half, but a Keatley penalty on 55 minutes gave Munster a ten-point cushion.

That score left Scarlets with a mountain to climb, but they were able to regroup and force their way back into the contest in the final quarter.

Just after the hour, Shingler crossed for Scarlets' second try of the evening to take the home side to within three points of Munster.

And the scores were level as the game headed into the final ten minutes thanks to Priestland's second penalty of the match.

Both sides searched desperately in the closing stages for the points that would win them the match, but defences held firm, ensuring that the spoils were shared.

The scorers:

For Scarlets
Tries: Lamont, Shingler
Cons: Priestland 2
Pens: Priestland 2

For Munster:
Tries: Ryan, Zebo
Cons: Keatley 2
Pens: Keatley 2

Scarlets: 15 Liam Williams, 14 George North, 13 Adam Warren, 12 Stephen Jones, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Josh Turnbull, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Dominic Day, 4 Sione Timani, 3 Deacon Manu, 2 Matthew Rees (capt), 1 Rhodri Jones.
Replacements: 16 Emyr Phillips, 17 Phil John, 18 Simon Gardiner, 19 Mat Gilbert, 20 Kieran Murphy, 21 Tavis Knoyle, 22 Jordan Williams, 23 Viliame Iongi.

Munster: 15 Felix Jones, 14 Luke O'Dea, 13 Johne Murphy, 12 Lifiemi Mafi, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Peter O'Mahony, 7 Tommy O'Donnell, 6 Donnacha Ryan, 5 Paul O'Connell (capt), 4 Mick O'Driscoll, 3 BJ Botha, 2 Mike Sherry, 1 Dave Kilcoyne.
Replacements: 16 Damien Varley, 17 Wian du Preez, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Donncha O'Callaghan, 20 Peter Butler, 21 Tomas O'Leary, 22 Scott Deasy, 23 Ian Dineen.

Referee: Alain Rolland