Scarlets v Dragons: Five takeaways as hosts provide a ‘glimmer of hope’ while youngsters impress ahead of Six Nations announcement
Scarlets back Eddie James and scrum-half Archie Hughes.
Following the Scarlets’ 32-15 bonus point victory over the Dragons, here are our five takeaways from the United Rugby Championship Welsh derby.
Top Line
The Welsh Rugby derbies kicked off the URC for 2025 and it’s safe to say that the second 80 minutes was certainly better than the first.
The Scarlets came out firing in the new year with Blair Murray grabbing a 15-minute brace with Josh Macleod making it three tries in 30 minutes to take a 24-3 lead into the break as Sam Costelow knocked over all three conversions and a penalty.
For the Dragons, they held onto the ball in the Scarlets’ half but struggled to gain any dividends for their efforts and early in the second half, Ellis Mee notched up the bonus point score for the hosts.
Dwayne Peel’s side defended well for long periods of the match but eventually, the dam wall broke as Taine Basham scored the Dragons’ first try of the year on 50 minutes and they doubled up after some quick thinking from Huw Anderson.
However, Ioan Lloyd’s 69th-minute penalty eased fears of a Scarelts’ collapse as they held out for a crucial bonus point win with the scoreline somewhat flattering the Dragons.
Scarlets liven up 2025
After 80 painstaking minutes of rugby in Cardiff, the bar for entertaining rugby was set exceptionally low, but thankfully for the on-watching Welsh public, the Scarlets were not just keen on providing a good show, but they delivered it.
Peel’s side showed real spirit with the ball in hand and an eagerness to exploit soft moments from the Dragons. This was plainly evident for the opening try as Joe Roberts pinched a loose ball and his teammates capitalised with Murray speeding away for the first try of 2024.
The Scarlets’ ploy to consistently keep the ball alive on attack and limit the number of rucks worked wonders for the hosts and a lovely long pass from flanker Macleod saw Murray grab his second as his brilliant start to life in Wales extended into the new year.
Then ofcourse there was the box office talent of Sam Lousi in the pack, a man that can always get the offload away and makes the nigh-on impossible look oh so easy.
For long periods of the game, the Dragons had the upper hand in terms of possession and territory but they lacked the killer edge to really worry the Scarlets.
Wasteful Dragons
The Scarlet’s defence deserves a tip of the hat as it was resolute at times but the visitors certainly made life easy for them.
Scrum-half Rhodri Williams has enjoyed some great form this season and earned a long-awaited return to the Test team but today was off the mark on several occasions. He slammed a wonderful 50:22 which was a real highlight of the opening minutes but not too long after he wasted a great field position to launch an attack from with a woeful chip over the top which was easily read by Costelow. He also attempted an unnecessary one-handed catch from the back of the scrum and while the conditions did clear up before kick-off, it was still rather slippery out there and resulted in the knock-on letting the Scarlets off. Then there was a cheeky soft volley when he really should have dived on the ball but the lanky arms of Sam Lousi scooped up the ball and the host raced away with it and charged into the Dragons’ half.
Rio Dyer’s mazing run from inside his own half was a stunning opportunity but frankly, it was completely wasted with his teammates offering so few options around and the Scarlets scrambled well forcing the Dragons into touch moments later. Fortunately, they were gifted an attacking lineout after botching the opportunity as Gareth Davies scoffed his clearance kick and Basham was able to force his way over the line from close range.
Scarlets provide a glimmer of hope
After all the doom and gloom of 2024, the Scarlets are providing an early glimmer of hope for Welsh Rugby in 2025. Peel’s side have now gone four on the bounce at home and while two of those wins were against the two bottom-of-the-table teams in the URC and the Black Lion, one was against the Bulls.
By handing the Dragons their eighth straight defeat in the URC this season, they have now catapulted themselves up to sixth place in the league standings. Admittedly there are several teams with games in hand below them and a tough run of fixtures in the not too distant future but Peel’s side are showing real improvements when compared to last season on both sides of the ball which cannot be confidently stated about the likes of the Ospreys and Dragons.
With Cardiff also riding high, one cannot help but think that at least this season Wales won’t have a representative team in the URC play-offs as was the case in 2023/24.
Wales watching
Warren Gatland will be casting a close eye on these Welsh derbies as he prepares to name his Six Nations squad in a few weeks times and while he would have needed a couple of espressos for the first 80, he would have been on the edge of his seat for periods of the second match.
While he won’t have been overly impressed by the starting number nines, although Gareth Davies has called time on his Test career anyway, the replacement scrum-halves may have piqued his interest. Archie Hughes added real energy off the bench while Che Hope may have struggled to up the tempo of the Dragons’ attack due to the slow rucks but he did look far more in control and made great decisions overall.
Tom Rogers also impressed with his excellence under the high ball and overall calmness in the backfield before he was forced off the pitch for what looked like a calf injury.
In the pack, Taine Plumtree produced a stunning offload to set up the opening try and had several standout moments in the game but was guilty of being ill-disciplined ultimately resulting in a yellow card. He has a brilliantly well-rounded match and Gatland will want to find a place for him in his pack but he has to sort of his discipline. In the same back-rower, Macleod put in another massive performance scoring and assisting a try to go with his relentless work rate on defence an at the breakdown. Wales are never short on openside flankers which is unfortunate for Macleod who will almost certainly miss out on the Six Nations squad despite his form as there are just so many great options.
There will be some concern for Gatland at fly-half as Costelow put in a rather average performance which included a kick out on the full despite being told multiple times that he had taken the ball back into his 22 and also missed a penalty kick to touch. The 23-year-old was subsequently replaced early in the second half with Ioan Lloyd taking over.
After a standout shift on Boxing Day, Ryan Woodman put in another strong workload and one that will see his stocks continue in an upward trajectory. With Adam Beard set to miss the Six Nations, perhaps Gatland will at least give the big athletic youngster a look into the squad.
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