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Rob Cole reports from Parc y Scarlets
LEADERS LEINSTER SUFFERED only their second defeat of the season in all competitions as they were seen off by an impressive Scarlets side who boosted their URC play-off hopes in a bonus-point victory in Llanelli.
Scarlets moved up to seventh in the table with their 35-22 victory, edging Munster out of the play-off spots into ninth with two regular-season rounds remaining.
Leinster, meanwhile, are still eight points clear of champions Glasgow at the top of the table.
You had to go back to September 2018 for the last time the proud Scarlets had lowered Leinster’s colours, but they led from start to finish in this one and were well worth the victory that keeps alive their hopes of reaching the knockout stages.
The pumped-up home side picked up the try bonus-point with their fourth score two minutes into the second half. More than that, they managed to keep Leinster scoreless in the second half.
The victory moved the Scarlets up to seventh place in the table and keeps them in the hunt for a quarter-final slot as they prepare for their end of season safari to South Africa, where they will face the Lions and Sharks.
Leinster, meanwhile, are still sitting pretty will feel confident of bagging a home draw in the knock-out phase. They still have to play Zebre and Glasgow at home.
Leo Cullen understandably opted to defend his best team ahead of next weekend’s Ivestec Champions Cup semi-final against Northampton Saints and must have thought he had enough power in his second string to extend the winning run over Scarlets to six matches.
But they never recovered from an error and penalty strewn opening that saw the Scarlets race into a 10 point lead and plunder three first half tries. Veteran scrum half Gareth Davies grabbed the first after a midfield bust by man of the match Taine Plumtree and then returning Wales outside half Sam Costelow cross kicked perfectly for Tom Rogers to grab the second.
Plumtree then picked off a midfield pass to intercept on half way and race to the posts for the third. Costelow converted two of them and also kicked a penalty.
The Leinster response came from an early Ross Byrne penalty and then a try for Jamie Osborne that was made by a charge down by Diarmuid Mangan.Then, on the stoke of half-time, the best move of the match saw Fintan Gunne explode off the base of a scrum on half way and pave the way for Liam Turner to break clear into the Scarlets 22.
The centre was held just short, but Mangan was on hand to drive over. Having converted the Osborne try, Byrne was off target with his second attempt, but still the visitors were in touch at 22-15 at half-time.
The first score in the second half was always going to be important and it fell to the home side. Wales full back Blair Murray made the break and his international teammate Joe Roberts rounded things off. Costelow added the extra sand then his replacement Ioan Lloyd rounded things off with two long range penalties.
Job done for the Scarlets, the best is still to come from Leinster at the business end of the season.
Scorers: Scarlets: Tries: G Davies (7), T Rogers (22), T Plumtree (30): Cons: S Costelow (8, 30); Pen: S Costelow (12), I Lloyd (55, 78). Leinster: Tries: J Osborne (24), D Mangan (35), J Culhane (48); Cons: R Byrne (24, 48); Pen: R Byrne (17)
SCARLETS: B Murray; T Rogers (M Page 64), J Roberts, J Williams, E Mee; S Costelow (I Lloyd 49), G Davies (A Hughes 74); A Hepburn (L Trevett 79), R Elias (M van der Merwe 56), H Thomas (S Wainwright 56), A Craig (J Price 68), S Lousi, V Fifita, J Macleod (captain), T Plumtree (J Taylor 74)
LEINSTER: C Frawley; A Osborne (C Tector 51), L Turner (R Moloney 78), J Osborne, J O’Brien; R Byrne, F Gunne (C Foley 64); C Healy (J Boyle 51), R Kelleher (captain, G McCarthy 51), T Clarkson (R Slimani 51), R Baird (S Penny 41-43), B Deeny (D Mangan 14), A Soroka, W Connors (S Penny 49), J Culhane
Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Written by Rob Cole and originally published on The 42 whose award-winning team produces original content that you won’t find anywhere else: on GAA, League of Ireland, women’s sport and boxing, as well as our game-changing rugby coverage, all with an Irish eye. Subscribe here.
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