URC: Dragons suffer 33-17 defeat to 14-man Scarlets in Llanelli

Dai Flanagan’s men played nearly the entire second half with an extra man after a red card for Sione Kalamafoni yet let a 17-16 lead slip with a very poor performance, one only eclipsed by the shocker at Edinburgh on opening weekend.

Defeat means that the Scarlets close within four points of their Rodney Parade rivals in the United Rugby Championship, with the sides potentially having a wooden spoon shootout at Judgement Day on the last weekend of the season.

The Dragons led 17-16 at half-time after scoring tries through full-back Angus O’Brien and scrum-half Lewis Jones, with work by Ross Moriarty earning the chance to have a numerical advantage in the second half.

The Wales number eight was sin-binned for pulling the scrum cap of opposite number Sione Kalamafoni in a dust-up that was sparked by home lock Sam Lousi failing to let go of Ashton Hewitt’s jersey.

DUST-UP: Sione Kalamafoni and Ross Moriarty fight (Image: Huw Evans Agency)

Kalamafoni responded by punching Moriarty and then having a second dig for good measure, actions that drew a smile from the Dragons man as he knew he’d drawn a red reaction.

Referee Ben Whitehouse was booed for making the simple and clear decision – red for Scarlets, yellow for Dragons.

However, the hosts rallied to regain the lead and then defended tenaciously to protect it; their tight five came up trumps and they were aided by the Dragons lacking control and racking up the errors.

It was a deflating trip west for Flanagan’s men, whose progress has stalled after an encouraging first block of the campaign.

They haven’t won since before the autumn internationals and while they have been competitive – and suffered several near misses – the harsh reality is that it’s six games without victory now.

The Dragons have undoubtedly improved from last season, but the bar was low and they can be much, much better.

After double derby disappointment against Cardiff and the Scarlets they now need to somehow recharge their batteries for a swift return to action against the bruising Bulls at Rodney Parade on Friday.

POWER: Taine Basham on the charge for the Dragons (Image: Huw Evans Agency)

The Dragons were forced into a pre-match change when centre Jack Dixon was pulled out because of illness, leading to Sio Tomkinson getting a promotion from the bench.

They made an extremely poor start with Taine Basham pinged for a no-arms tackle after 18 seconds on his return from injury before Lewis Jones was outjumped by Johnny McNicholl for an up-and-under.

That was swiftly followed by Kalamafoni reaching over from close range only for the try to be chalked off for a knock-on by the number eight at the preceding ruck, meaning the Scarlets went back for a fourth-minute penalty that Leigh Halfpenny knocked over.

The Lions full-back repeated the trick to make it 6-0 in the 12th minute after a scrum offence followed Lewis Jones’ aerial issues leading to more pressure.

However, the Dragons turned the tables to lead 10-6 after a quarter with JJ Hanrahan kicking a penalty and then converting O’Brien’s score.

The full-back went over on his return west thanks to a searing break by Wales wing Rio Dyer, who juggled the ball and then dashed between Dane Blacker and Joe Roberts before staying calm to provide the assist.

However, the Scarlets’ response was rapid with an overlap worked down the left for Steff Evans to go over, Halfpenny making the final pass and adding the extras to make it 13-10.

O’Brien was injured in the build-up to the score and that prompted a rejig with Sam Davies taking over at fly-half and Hanrahan shifting back to full-back.

Then came Kalamafoni’s moment of madness and the Dragons struck from the resulting penalty while it was 14 against 14.

They kicked to the corner, the drive was stopped but Lewis Jones peeled off to canter over against disorganised defence.

TRY: Lewis Jones scores for the Dragons (Image: Huw Evans Agency)

Hanrahan converted but the Scarlets had the final say of the half through Halfpenny’s boot to cut the visitors’ to 17-16.

Rhys Patchell was wide with an effort from distance for the hosts soon after the restart but Halfpenny made no mistake in the 49th minute to make it 19-17 to the 14 men.

The Dragons were being hindered by a high error count and indiscipline, which allowed Scarlets to earn a prime attacking opportunity from a five-metre scrum.

The big boys hammered away before scrum-half Dane Blacker, briefly a Dragon on loan, sniped over under the posts to make Halfpenny’s conversion a formality.

The Scarlets were down a man but led 26-17 with 20 minutes to hold on.

The Dragons missed chances to make it a one-score game – Hanrahan failing from the tee and a pair of lineout drives going pointless – and the game was escaping them as the clock hit 70.

The game was almost exclusively played in Scarlets territory but the home defence held firm to make it a pointless trip west to start 2023, and even twisted the knife with the clock in the red through McNicholl after the Dragons turned the ball over hunting a consolation bonus.

Scarlets scorers: tries – S Evans, D Blacker, J McNicholl; conversions – L Halfpenny (3); penalties – L Halfpenny (4).

Dragons: O’Brien (S Davies 23); Dyer, S Hughes (captain), Tomkinson (Clark 74), Hewitt; Hanrahan, L Jones (Hope 74); Seiuli (R Evans 70), B Roberts (Coghlan 74), Coleman (Yendle 74), J Davies, Nott (Screech 46), Wainwright (Fry 59), Basham, Moriarty.

Tries – A O’Brien, L Jones; conversions – JJ Hanrahan (2); penalties – JJ Hanrahan.

Referee: Ben Whitehouse.

Attendance: 8,566.