Saints bag crucial bonus point
The Saints must now hope that results go their way on the final day of the pool stage so that they can finish as one of the three best runners-up. Scarlets grabbed a late consolation through prop Rhodri Jones but that was not enough to prevent a whitewash for only the third time in 21 years of European competition.
Scarlets side desperate to prove a point after their record loss at Racing last week and there was no doubting their desire with a heavy tackle that forced off Northampton flank Jamie Gibson after just six minutes.
But Saints were gifted an easy opener by Scarlets when Morgan Allen's pass was picked off by Mallinder and the centre stepped on the gas to grab his second try in successive weeks.
Saints knew they would likely need a bonus-point win after watching Toulon beat Bath before kick-off. And they were half-way there after 21 minutes when Pisi squeezed over for their second try.
Alex Waller made the initial burst and though Tom Kessell's long pass went to ground, Pisi scooped up possession off the wet turf and stretched out of Tom Williams' tackle to score.
Aled Thomas clawed back three points while Aaron Shingler's turnover snuffed out a promising Northampton attack to limit Saints' lead to 12-3 at the break. Sam Dickinson finished a trademark line-out drive before North raced onto Mallinder's flat pass amid appeals from Scarlets for a forward pass.
Lee Dickson was binned for a cynical infringement as Scarlets rallied though 14-man Saints held out until Wales prop Rhodri Jones squeezed over in the final minute.
The scorers:
For Scarlets:
Try: Jones
Con: Thomas
Pen: Thomas
For Northampton Saints:
Tries: Mallinder, Pisi, Dickinson, North
Con: Myler
Teams:
Scarlets: 15 Michael Collins, 14 Tom Williams, 13 Regan King, 12 Steven Shingler, 11 DTH van der Merwe, 10 Aled Thomas, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Morgan Allen, 7 Will Boyde, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Maselino Paulino, 4 Tom Price, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Ken Owens (captain),1 Phil John.
Replacements: 16 Kirby Myhill, 17 Dylan Evans, 18 Rhodri Jones, 19 Lewis Rawlins, 20 Tom Phillips, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Josh Lewis, 23 Steff Hughes.
Northampton Saints: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Jamie Elliot, 13 George Pisi, 12 Harry Mallinder, 11 George North, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Tom Kessell, 8 Sam Dickinson, 7 Tom Wood, 6 Jamie Gibson, 5 Christian Day, 4 Courtney Laws, 3 Paul Hill, 2 Dylan Hartley (captain), 1 Alex Waller.
Replacements: 16 Mikey Haywood, 17 Ethan Waller, 18 Gareth Denman, 19 Michael Paterson, 20 Jon Fisher, 21 Lee Dickson, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23 Luther Burrell.
Referee: Pascal Gauzère (France)
Assistant referees: Maxime Chalon (France), Jean-Luc Rebollal (France)
TMO: Jean-Marie Piraveau (France)
@ChampionsCup
