Leinster steamrolls Scarlets to keep 100 percent record

MATCH REPORT: Leinster made it seven wins from seven in their first block of United Rugby Championship fixtures by beating the Scarlets 35-5 in Llanelli.

Chris Cosgrave, Rob Russell and Tom Clarkson were all on the scoresheet, while there were also two penalty tries awarded and Ross Byrne added three conversions.

A try from Steff Evans was the Scarlets’ sole response.

It took Leinster only 40 seconds to open the scoring. The Scarlets erred from the kick-off to give their opponents a line-out from where they moved the ball wide for Cosgrave to race over.

That was the only score of an otherwise featureless first quarter before the Scarlets sprung to life with an excellent try.

Ryan Conbeer, on his 50th appearance for the region, ran strongly down the left wing and, when the ball was recycled, a long pass from Jonathan Davies gave Evans the chance to outflank the cover defence.

Leinster quickly responded with their second try. Russell kicked ahead for Conbeer and Leinster hooker John McKee to contest possession and, when the ball ran free, Russell was on hand to score.

Byrne succeeded with his second touchline conversion to give his side a deserved 14-5 interval lead.

Seven minutes after the restart, the Irish province scored their third when Clarkson finished off a succession of forward drives.

Leinster became increasingly dominant and their cause was greatly helped when the Scarlets picked up two yellow cards in quick succession.

First to go was Dan Jones for repeated team infringements, quickly followed by Johnny McNicholl for a deliberate knock-on, which resulted in a penalty try award.

Playing with 13, the Scarlets had one of their best periods of the game and were aided by a yellow card for Leinster replacement prop Michael Milne.

However, the visitors illustrated their dominance by picking up a second penalty try, with Gareth Davies becoming the third Scarlet to be sin-binned.

Player of the Match

Leinster captain Rhys Ruddock was at the heart of a dominant performance from his pack. His whole-hearted efforts inspired his team-mates to keep the Scarlets to just one try as he and his fellow forwards were always on hand to make the hard yards.

Play of the match

With only one win this season, the last thing the Scarlets needed was to concede a try in the opening minute. They failed to deal with the kick-off, which allowed Leinster to display their customary efficiency, with slick and accurate passing creating a simple try for Cosgrave.

The scorers

For Scarlets
Try: S Evans

For Leinster
Tries: Cosgrave, Russel, Clarkson, Penalty tries 2
Cons: R Byrne 3, penalty tries do not require conversions

Teams:

Scarlets: 15 Johnny McNicholl, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Steff Evans, 12 Jonathan Davies (captain), 11 Ryan Conbeer, 10 Dan Jones, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Sione Kalamafoni, 7 Dan Thomas, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Tom Price, 4 Jac Price, 3 Harri O’Connor, 2 Daf Hughes, 1 Steff Thomas.
Replacements: 16 Shaun Evans, 17 Kelmsey Mathias, 18 Willgriff John, 19 Morgan Jones, 20 Iwan Shenton, 21 Archie Hughes, 22 Rhys Patchell, 23 Corey Baldwin.

Leinster: 15 Chris Cosgrave, 14 Rob Russell, 13 Liam Turner, 12 Charlie Ngatai, 11 Dave Kearney, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Max Deegan, 7 Scott Penny, 6 Rhys Ruddock (captain), 5 Jason Jenkins, 4 Ross Molony, 3 Thomas Clarkson, 2 John McKee, 1 Ed Byrne.
Replacements: 16 Tadhg McElroy, 17 Michael Milne, 18 Vakh Abdaladze, 19 Brian Deeny, 20 Martin Moloney, 21 Nick McCarthy, 22 Charlie Tector, 23 Ben Brownlee.

Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Assistant referees: Adam Jones (Wales), Simon Mills (Wales)
TMO: Matteo Liperini (Italy)