13 14 SCARLETS PAY THE PENALTY AS THEY LOSE OPENING CLASH

THE Scarlets have given themselves another uphill challenge to make the Champions Cup knockout stages after being felled by a late penalty try in an edgy Pool 5 clash against Racing 92 in Llanelli.

Last season’s semi-finalists appeared to be on their way to taking the scalp of one of the tournament favourites when tries from Gareth Davies and Johnny McNicholl put them in apparent control midway through the second half.

However, when a Racing line-out rumble was hauled down illegally with five minutes left on the clock, English referee Matthew Carley went straight for the posts, enabling the Parisians to snatch the spoils.

After a below-par first half, when the Scarlets were far removed from the side that dazzled their way to the last four last season, the West Walians will have felt they had done enough to claim the win. But some late ill-discipline cost them.

Wayne Pivac and his players will be bitterly disappointed, particularly as Racing weren’t at their best either.

But they will only have to look at the events of last season to know there is plenty left to play for during the remainder of pool stages.

Thankfully, Storm Callum, which had caused such disruption across South Wales over the weekend had relented somewhat by the time the two sides took the field.

The Scarlets, certainly, would have been relieved having come unstuck in the wind and rain at home against Bath last year.

With Rhys Patchell sidelined with a concussion issue, former Dragon Angus O’Brien was drafted in for his first start for his new side

The 24-year-old endured a nervy opening, putting the kick-off out on the full, then spilling a high ball and having a clearance attempt charged down on his own line.

It was full-back Leigh Halfpenny who put the Scarlets on their way with a ninth-minute penalty, but the greasy surface meant the early exchanges were littered with handling errors with neither side able to get into their stride.

It needed some resolute home defence to keep Racing at bay with a trademark French rumble halted inches short of the whitewash - one of only a few try-scoring opportunities in a forgettable first half.

The Scarlets were their own worst enemies at times, losing three successive attacking line-outs as they attempted to get some foothold in the game. They also kicked loosely out of hand.

And with the clock ticking towards the red, they switched off and were duly punished when flanker Baptiste Chouzenoux latched onto a clever dummy and off-load from scrumhalf Xavier Chauveau to canter under the posts with Finn Russell’s conversion making it 7-3 at the break.

O’Brien’s testing evening ended when he was helped off injured at half-time with Dan Jones taking his place in the No.10 jersey.

Both sides were greeted on their return by the rain sweeping across Parc y Scarlets, turning the contest into even more of a handling lottery.

But it was the Scarlets, clearly stung by some harsh half-time words from Pivac, who were a side transformed

And they crossed for two tries in the space of four minutes to turn the game on its head.

First, Gareth Davies sniped blindside from an attacking scrum to restore the home lead.

Then, after Halfpenny had burst down the touchline, a clever leftfooted grubber from Jonathan Davies caught the Racing defence on their heels and McNicholl did well to slide onto the ball and touch down.

Halfpenny couldn’t land both conversions, however, and the match remained in the balance heading into the final quarter. Then came the late drama. Scotland fly-half Russell provided the spark, dummying through from his own half.

The Scarlets conceded a couple of penalties and suddenly found themselves defending a five-metre lineout drive.

Racing are one of the best business at converting from that distance and when the blue and white maul was brought down by scrum-half Davies, referee Carley had no hesitation in showing the Wales international a yellow card and heading to the uprights,

With four minutes to save the game, the Scarlets went into desperation mode.

But they were unable to salvage the game and, just like last season, already face an uphill challenge to qualify for the knockout stages with a clash against Leicester to come at Welford Road next Friday. SCARLETS: L. Halfpenny; J. McNicholl (repl P. Asquith 75), J. Davies, H. Parkes, S. Evans; A. O’Brien (repl D. Jones 40), G. Davies; W. Jones (repl R. Evans 53), K. Owens (capt; repl R. Elias 66)), S. Lee (repl W. Kruger 53), J. Ball (repl T. Price 40), D. Bulbring, E. Kennedy (repl J. Macleod 53), W. Boyde, B. Thomson. RACING 92: B. Volavola; J. Rokocoko (repl V. Vakatawa 54), O. Klemenczak, H. Chavancy (capt), S. Zebo; F. Russell, X. Chauveau (repl T. Iribaren 50); G. Gogichashvili (repl E. Ben Arous 50), C. Chat (repl T. Baubigny 59), C. Gomes Sa (repl C. Johnston 50), D. Ryan, L. Nakarawa (repl D. Bird 59), W. Lauret, B. Chouzenoux, A. Classen. REFEREE: Matthew Carley (England)