Scarlets end disappointing campaign on a high with bonus-point win over Dragons that lifts them above Sharks

Scarlets ended a disappointing United Rugby Championship season on a positive note as they claimed a 32-15 bonus-point win over the Dragons at Cardiff City Stadium.

Kemsley Mathias, Dan Davis and Tomi Lewis (2) all crossed in the victory with Sam Costelow and Ioan Lloyd adding extras from the kicking tee in Saturday’s derby.

Sio Tomkinson crossed twice in reply for Dragons with Will Reed converting one of those and also adding a penalty goal as they end the URC campaign in 15th place.

Scarlets‘ win combined with the Sharks’ defeat against the Bulls means the Welsh region move above the Durbanites to finish in 13th position on the final standings.

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After an error-ridden opening, Dragons took the lead with a penalty from Reed after Scarlets lock Sam Lousi was penalised for a no-arms tackle.

Costelow soon replied with one for Scarlets but the two penalty successes were the only scores of a very poor first quarter in which neither side remotely threatened the try-line.

Costelow then had a chance to put his side in front but fired wide with his 40-metre penalty attempt. However, it was the fly-half who made the first break of the game but Lewis was unable to take the pass as the try-line beckoned.

Dragons struggled in the scrums to concede two penalties in that area and they were made to pay when Mathias finished off a line-out drive.

Costelow converted before Scarlets suffered a blow when their promising centre Eddie James was yellow-carded for a high challenge on Aneurin Owen, who departed after a failed HIA.

Bulls guarantee top two finish with hard-fought bonus-point win over Sharks

Costelow also left the field for an HIA but it was his side that extended the lead with an excellent try. From a scrum inside his half, Gareth Davies burst away to put the visitors’ defence on the back foot and when the ball was recycled Lewis ran strongly down the right flank to send Davis over.

Lloyd converted and Scarlets held a 17-3 interval lead.

James and Costelow both returned for the second half and in time to see his side deal a hammer blow to Dragons’ chances.

Rio Dyer ran straight across the field and when tackled threw out a reckless pass which Lewis had no problem in intercepting to race away and score.

At last Dragons fired a shot when replacement Tomlinson finished off a decent round of passing and it was the precursor for them to have their best spell of the match.

Tomlinson rewarded a period of pressure to score his second but Costelow sealed victory with his second penalty.

The teams

Scarlets: 15 Ioan Nicholas, 14 Tomi Lewis, 13 Johnny Williams, 12 Eddie James, 11 Ryan Conbeer, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Carwyn Tuipulotu, 7 Dan Davis, 6 Taine Plumtree, 5 Sam Lousi, 4 Alex Craig, 3 Harri O’Connor, 2 Ryan Elias (c), 1 Kemsley Mathias
Replacements: 16 Shaun Evans, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Sam Wainwright, 19 Morgan Jones, 20 Jarrod Taylor, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Ioan Lloyd, 23 Macs Page

Dragons: 15 Ewan Rosser, 14 Rio Dyer, 13 Joe Westwood, 12 Aneurin Owen, 11 Chris Hollis, 10 Will Reed, 9 Rhodri Williams (c), 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Taine Basham, 6 Ryan Woodman, 5 Matthew Screech, 4 Ben Carter, 3 Chris Coleman, 2 Brodie Coghlan, 1 Rhodri Jones
Replacements: 16 James Benjamin, 17 Rodrigo Martinez, 18 Dmitri Arhip, 19 George Nott, 20 Dan Lydiate, 21 Che Hope, 22 Steff Hughes, 23 Sio Tomkinson

Referee: Craig Evans (WRU)
Assistant Referees: Rhys Jones (WRU), Nathan James (WRU)
TMO: Keith David (WRU)

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