Scarlets are left red-faced

THE Scarlets were well beaten by Irish opposition for the second week running, going down to Leinster at the RDS.

Dwayne Peel’s side actually started well, looking to make amends for their poor showing against Munster last week, with Sam Costelow and Johnny Sexton trading early penalties.

Both teams missed opportunities as the Welsh side went toe to toe with the defending champions and eventually took the lead.

Wales international Johnny Williams produced a moment of magic with an offload that set Ioan Nicholas free up the short side. The full-back drew the last man and put Johnny Mcnicholl over in the corner.

Leinster came roaring back in the second quarter. The Scarlets’ indiscipline put the hosts in a dangerous position and there was no stopping a powerful driving maul that carried Ronan Kelleher over the line.

The pressure was relentless and Andrew Porter soon burrowed his way over from a metre after two phases, with Sexton converting.

On the stroke of half-time, the hosts earned three consecutive scrum penalties on the Scarlets line, with referee Marius van der Westhuizen losing patience on the last one and awarding a penalty try. The score was 22-8 at the break. Leinster extended their lead seven minutes into the second period when James Lowe released hooker Kelleher after Sam Lousi spilled the ball in contact.

Kelleher found Caelan Doris, who trotted over, with Ciarán Frawley converting.

But the Leinster centre then dropped the restart and, from the scrum, some quick hands and an offload from Mcnicholl resulted in a debut try for Argentina international Tomas Lezana. Replacement Dan Jones converted.

But just after the hour mark, replacement Cian Healy powered his way over from close range. Ross Byrne converted.

Mcnicholl was shown a yellow card and replacement hooker Dan Sheehan added another try shortly after.

The hooker crossed for the final try in the closing minutes, with Byrne’s conversion bringing up the half-century.