Scarlets record bonus-point win over Dragons

MATCH REPORT: Dragons suffered New Year’s derby day misery as Scarlets surged to a 32-15 victory in the United Rugby Championship at Parc y Scarlets.

A chastening first half for the Men of Gwent saw the home side open up a commanding 24-3 lead with tries from Blair Murray (2) and Josh Macleod.

Scarlets, undefeated in their last three home games in all competitions, continued to pull clear in the second half as Ellis Mee grabbed the try bonus.

Taine Basham and Huw Anderson grabbed second-half responses, but the visitors left empty-handed.

Dragons made a couple of changes for the opening game of 2025 with Shane Lewis-Hughes and Cai Evans returning but Elliot Dee was a late withdrawal ahead of kick-off.

Both teams looked for a platform in the opening exchanges with Evans solid under the high ball while O’Brien looked to get Dragons around the edges with his flat passing.

But coughed up ball in midfield proved costly as Scarlets went wide and slipped through tackles and kept the ball alive to allow Murray a simple run in under the posts that Sam Costelow converted.

Dragons were then over eager at the breakdown to make amends and a penalty for hands on the floor saw Costelow split the uprights for a 10-0 lead.

O’Brien hit a three-pointer to reduce the lead, but lost possession from the restart allowed Scarlets to come again and go wide for Murray to grab his second of the afternoon.

Aaron Wainwright exploded off the back of a scrum and fed a marauding Taine Basham, but the ball was spilled after making yards as Dragons looked to land a response.

Dragons kicked to the corner to set up another attack, but possession was lost again as the home side looked to attack from deep with menace.

A midfield break and neat offload from Sam Lousi fractured the Dragons defence and the home side kept the ball alive to force a penalty for offside and kick to the corner.

The home pack went to work and Macleod powered over from driving maul to increase the lead to 24-3 at the break.

Scarlets wrapped up the bonus point via wing Ellis Mee after the TMO gave score despite suggestions of a knock on in the build-up from Roberts.

Dragons needed to land a punch and after Rio Dyer had tore down the middle it was the forwards who took it on for Basham to score.

More huge pressure from the forwards minutes later, with Basham to the fore once again, saw Scarlets manage to hold it up.

The home side were reduced to 14 men when Plumtree was yellow card and Anderson and Hope combined to send wing over for his second try of the season.

Three points from Ioan Lloyd eased any home nerves.

The scorers:

For Scarlets:
Tries: Murray 2, Macloed, Mee
Cons: Costelow 3
Pens: Costelow, Lloyd

For Dragons:
Tries: Basham, Anderson
Con: O’Brien
Pen: O’Brien

Teams

Scarlets: 15 Tom Rogers, 14 Ellis Mee, 13 Joe Roberts, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Blair Murray, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Taine Plumtree, 7 Josh Macleod (captain), 6 Max Douglas, 5 Sam Lousi, 4 Alex Craig, 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Marnus van der Merwe, 1 Alec Hepburn.
Replacements: 16 Shaun Evans, 17 Kemsley Mathias, 18 Archer Holz, 19 Vaea Fifita Taylor, 20 Jarrod Taylor, 21 Archie Hughes, 22 Ioan Lloyd, 23 Eddie James.

Dragons: 15 Cai Evans, 14 Rio Dyer, 13 Jared Rosser, 12 Aneurin Owen, 11 Huw Anderson, 10 Angus O’Brien (captain), 9 Rhodri Williams, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Taine Basham, 6 Shane Lewis-Hughes, 5 Ryan Woodman, 4 Joe Davies, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Rodrigo Martinez.
Replacements: 16 Brodie Coghlan, 17 Dylan Kelleher-Griffiths, 18 Chris Coleman, 19 Nick Thomas, 20 Dan Lydiate, 21 Che Hope, 22 Will Reed, 23 Harry Wilson.

Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Assistant referees: Craig Evans (Wales) , Mike English (Wales)
TMO: Aled Griffiths (Wales)

Source: Dragons