Scarlets suffered a dramatic second-half collapse as the Dragons ran in 10 tries after the break to seal an emphatic 80-14 pre-season victory at Church Bank in Llandovery.
Scarlets collapse after competitive first half
The Scarlets were competitive in the opening 40 minutes as Wales star Gareth Anscombe made his debut and trailed just 19-14 at half-time, but they were blown away after the interval as Dragons scored 61 unanswered points.
Elliot Dee crossed twice, while Evan Minto, Tinus de Beer, Rhodri Williams, Harry Rees-Weldon, Sam Scarfe, David Richards and Joe Westwood also went over in a ruthless display from the visitors against an inexperienced home team.
Dragons dominate after half-time changes
Dragons boss Filo Tiatia made nine changes at half-time, with Dee making an immediate impact as a driving maul powered over for his first try. Minto then broke clear before De Beer crossed as Dragons turned a five-point advantage into a commanding lead with three tries in a devastating burst.
Rhodri Williams added another after slick handling from the backs, before Dee scored his second from another powerful maul. Rees-Weldon then showed impressive finishing skills to race over as Dragons reached 40 unanswered points in just 23 minutes.
Scarfe and Richards added further tries before Westwood completed the rout by pouncing on a loose ball and hacking through to score. The result provided valuable game time for Tiatia’s squad with Dragons preparing for their BKT United Rugby Championship opener in Italy in two weeks.
Ospreys end pre-season with defeat
Ospreys were beaten 45-28 by Ulster in their final pre-season outing despite a spirited second-half fightback and an impressive display at the set piece. Ulster’s attacking threat proved decisive as they ran in seven tries in a frenetic first half, with their pace and ability to exploit space out wide repeatedly causing problems.
The Ospreys responded with two tries of their own through Rhys Davies and co-captain Sam Parry, both coming from powerful lineout mauls, as they went into half-time 31-14 behind. The visitors were strong at scrum and lineout throughout, winning their own ball consistently and disrupting Ulster when given the opportunity. However, missed chances and Ulster’s clinical finishing left them with a significant deficit to overturn.
Ulster extended their advantage to 38-14 shortly after the restart, but the Ospreys produced a much-improved second-half showing. Their forwards began to impose themselves on the game and the defence grew increasingly aggressive, with Lew Lloyd particularly prominent.
Two quick tries brought the Ospreys back into contention. Luke Morgan finished a superb strike move from a lineout before Evardi Boshoff raced onto a kick to reduce the gap to 10 points at 38-28. The Ospreys continued to threaten in the closing stages, but could not find the score they needed to complete the comeback. Ulster sealed victory with a try in the final minute as the home side took advantage of loose play to finish a high-scoring pre-season contest.
