Lions hero says Gatland should call on Davies again
Costelow’s stunning solo score offers a glimpse into the future:
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THE injury-hit Scarlets displayed enough new year resolve to see off the Dragons in an untidy Guinness PRO14 encounter in Llanelli.
Glenn Delaney’s side were missing 18 players for this east-west derby, while Jonathan Davies, Leigh Halfpenny and Johnny Mcnicholl also didn’t feature.
But they were still able to get the job done as they eased to their sixth successive win over fellow regions.
It was not a performance they’ll rank as one of their finest, mind.
For long periods they struggled to break down the Dragons, who were stubborn without being overly adventurous.
A dazzling late try from Sam Costelow put a gloss on the home side’s win. Their other touchdown came from No. 8 Sione Kalamafoni, by some distance the game’s outstanding player. Dan Jones added eight points with the boot and Costelow converted his own fivepointer.
The Dragons replied through a
Josh Lewis penalty.
Delaney will bank the win, move on and hope the Scarlets’ injury situation improves quickly.
Of course, the Dragons were shy of certain players as well, among them Jamie Roberts, who was self-isolating, while key man Sam Davies was also missing because of a calf injury.
Ultimately, the result was a fair one, though.
Maybe, all things considered, the game didn’t deserve a try of the sort Costelow dished up at the death.
History was against the Dragons when they made the trip west along the M4.
They had, after all, played at Parc y Scarlets 13 times in all tournaments and never won.
Would that have bothered their director of rugby Dean Ryan? Anyone who answered in the affirmative doesn’t know him. The former Army corporal is many things, among them an individual with high standards and also an outstanding man manager, but what he is not is someone who stays up at night worrying about what happened in the dim and dis
tant past.
Nonetheless, it’s fair to say the omens weren’t exactly auspicious for his team.
But they were very much in the game during a first half that was low in quality and littered with injuries.
No fewer than six players had exited before the break.
Jake Ball left proceedings first, looking disconsolate. Wyn Jones, on the occasion of his 100th Scarlets appearance, then suffered a head knock, a fate which also befell Ryan Elias. And the Scarlets also lost Tyler Morgan.
On the other side, Taine Basham, who had started so promisingly, damaged an arm and then Jonah Holmes saw his involvement cut short.
Inevitably, all the changes had a damaging effect on the match as a spectacle.
Mistakes punctuated play and safe options were taken as confidence dried up. The ball was kicked 47 times before the break, 23 times by the Scarlets and 24 by the Dragons, and turnover opportunities were frequently wasted.
Basham deserves to be excluded from any criticism.
He started with a blaze of turnovers and a carry before suffering his injury. The watching Wayne Pivac would have been disappointed to see the young Dragon go off in obvious pain.
Lewis put his side ahead with a penalty but two shots at goal from Jones nudged the Scarlets in front 6-3 at the break. The best passage of play in the opening 40 had come just before Nigel Owens mercifully blew for half-time, with Kieran Hardy and Kalamafoni putting in breaks and the Dragons having to transgress to stop the home team.
The Scarlets came out for the second half with renewed purpose.
They forced a scrum centre-field just 15 metres from the visiting line.
But they couldn’t make anything of it as good Dragons defence denied Steff Evans.
The breakthrough did eventually come, though.
With the Dragons down to 14 men after Matthew Screech had tackled Gareth Davies without the ball, Tevita Ratuva won a line-out for Kalamafoni to collect.
One of the PRO14’S top ball carriers had no problem ploughing across from short range.
With Jones nailing the conversion, the Scarlets were 13-3 ahead, with the match all over bar the shouting.
The best was saved for last, though, with Costelow lifting the match out of mediocrity.
Gathering the ball in broken play some 30 metres out, the youngster stepped off his left foot and had the gas to leave the cover for dead.
It was a marvellous way to launch his Scarlets career.