Scarlets pay for wasting their first half opportunities

DWAYNE Peel insists the Scarlets will be kicking themselves after letting slip a golden opportunity to win on South African soil.

But this was a step in the right direction for a young side who acquitted themselves well against a star-studded Sharks team featuring nine Springboks.

Scarlets dominated the first-half and came close to scoring three times but couldn’t quite nail those opportunities.

“We are disappointed because we crossed the line twice, and didn’t get the decisions,” said Peel

“We made a few errors and weren’t clinical enough when we needed to be but I’m proud of the effort. We had a young front row playing, a lot of boys who have come through the system with us and played against a Springboks front row.

“We will be kicking ourselves when we review this game.”

Scarlets came close to scoring after seven minutes when Sam Costelow looked to have won the race in chasing his own kick ahead. But the TMO ruled out the try after wing Aphelele Fassi had just got his fingertips on the ball.

Steffan Evans then butchered a great chance when he tried an acrobatic finish instead of diving for the line, with his foot just brushing the touchline. Dane Blacker also came within a whisker of scoring before he was hauled down just short by Siya Kolisi.

Costelow and Curwin Bosch exchanged two penalties each leaving the sides level at the interval. The Scarlets finally breached the home side’s line when

Aaron Shingler powered over from short range.

But the Scarlets tired as the game wore on, and Fassi raced in after latching on to a no-look grubber kick from Jaden Hendrikse. The decisive moment came when Scott Williams had a kick charged down by Ben Tapuai with Bosch diving on the loose ball to score despite being at least a yard offside.

Sharks set-piece power began to tell, and they extended their lead with a penalty try which resulted in prop Kemsley Mathias getting sent to the sin bin for collapsing a maul. A sensational one-handed offload from Sam Lousi sent Evans over for a try to give Scarlets hope but Steff Thomas was binned for collapsing another maul and Marius Louw sealed the Sharks’ try bonus.