The Scarlets strengthened their position in the race for the Guinness Pro 12 play-offs by beating Newport Gwent Dragons 21-16 on Saturday.
The west Walians safely avoided an upset on Pro12 Welsh Judgement Day thanks to tries by Lions hopefuls Jonathan Davies and Liam Williams after they had trailed 6-3 at the break.
It may not have been pretty but it was job done for Wayne Pivac’s side, who have won 15 of their last 17 in the league, after their neighbours the Ospreys were beaten by Cardiff Blues in the first game of the Welsh double-header in Cardiff.
Pivac said: “We were happy with the results. We were supporting Munster and the Blues and the results went our way.
“We weren’t happy with our performance. We were beaten in the first-half in the collisions. They slowed our ball down turned a lot over and played very well in that area,” he continued.
“We couldn’t get a foothold in the game in that first 40. We were happy with a couple of tries in the second-half and played a lot more rugby.”
With Ulster also suffering defeat away to second-placed Munster, it was a good day for the third-placed Scarlets while the Dragons continue to struggle at the other end despite a spirited showing that got the bonus point they deserved with a last-gasp Adam Hughes try.
Dragons coach Kingsley Jones hopes their losing bonus point can help them finish the season in ninth place in the Pro12.
“We want to finish above Edinburgh. It has been a tough season – it has not been a great season, we know that,” said Jones.
“We’ve been 10th for many seasons and there’s an opportunity still, with a disappointing season, to finish in ninth.
“Against the Blues we fancy our chances. They’ve been exceptional today and they’re a decent team but we fancy our chances and Edinburgh are in the same boat as us.
“We’ve got to believe we can go there and win, bring that intensity and belief again. That’s the challenge for this group.
“Losing is not acceptable and it’s not great but, ultimately, I couldn’t ask for much more.”
It was the Dragons that started well to take a 6-0 lead after a quarter of an hour thanks to a pair of penalties from fly-half Angus O’Brien.
The Gwent side had not won in any competition since January and were looking nervously over their shoulder at the Italian pair of Treviso and Zebre.
However, they played with plenty of spirit to turn the game into something of an arm-wrestle, giving little opportunity for the Scarlets’ dangermen Scott Williams, Jonathan Davies and Liam Williams to threaten.
The west Walians got on the scoreboard with a penalty from outside half Dan Jones after 26 minutes but that was the end of the scoring for the first half with both sides wasting driving lineout opportunities close to the line.
The Scarlets needed to up the tempo in the second half and they duly went on the attack in the 22 only for back row forward John Barclay to be held up in a tackle just shy of the line.
That chance went begging but the west Walians were enjoying more of the ball and in good areas with that pressure allowing Jones to level up in the 50th minute.
The Scarlets were in front on the hour when they exploited a man advantage after Dragons wing Hughes was sin-binned for killing the ball in the 22.
Seconds later the ball was worked through the hands for Wales centre Davies to canter over for a score that Liam Williams improved for a 13-6 lead.
To their credit, the Dragons responded with a third O’Brien penalty only for Williams to swiftly cancel that out to make it 16-9 in the 68th minute.
And the Wales full-back/wing applied the killer blow himself when he showed pace to over on an arcing run inside the 22 with nine minutes left before the Dragons earned a bonus point at the death with a score by Hughes converted by O’Brien.
