Steff Evans has admitted the Scarlets’ defence has too many holes even though they are sitting pretty at the top of Conference B of the Guinness Pro14 table.
The wing scored one of his team’s five tries as they beat Connacht 36-27 at Parc Y Scarlets on Friday night.
But the four tries conceded left Evans underwhelmed a week before they face the Ospreys in the first Welsh derby of the season.
Evans said: “It was frustrating for us. Our attacking game was as good as it’s been but when your defensive game isn’t up to scratch it makes it more difficult. Our defence wasn’t up to much tonight.
“Connacht always go to the end, fair play to them they carried on playing and our defensive errors let them in to the game.
“Having said that, it was a good win for us in the end but we have concentrate on our own game and work on our defence ahead of next week.”
The Scarlets currently sit at the top of Conference B’s table with 21 points whilst next week’s opponents are rooted to the bottom of Conference A’s table with just one victory in the opening five rounds.
But coach Wayne Pivac’s champions survived a real scare from Connacht to seal a bonus-point in a nine-try thriller.
The Scarlets were again impressive in attack, but their defence left something to be desired as Connacht scored four tries to their opponents’ five.
In the end, it was Pivac’s side who came out on top, with replacement lock Tadhg Beirne scoring the crucial try, adding to earlier efforts from Johnny McNicholl, man of the match Evans, Rhys Patchell and Leigh Halfpenny.
Connacht gave as good as they got and Tiernan O’Halloran’s second try gave Jack Carty the chance to tie the game.
The fly-half couldn’t take it though and it meant O’Halloran’s earlier effort, plus scores from Carty himself and Cian Kelleher, could only earn the Irish side a four-try bonus point.
Scarlets skipper Ken Owens said: “We’re happy to get the bonus-point victory at home, but defensively we weren’t at the races and were disappointed to concede some soft tries.
“We put ourselves under pressure. Luckily enough attack pulled us through the game.”
