Scarlets prevail over Dragons in a nine try thriller

The Scarlets ran out 41-20 winners over the Dragons at Rodney Parade on Saturday in a thoroughly enjoyable clash that saw nine tries being scored.

The victory sees Scarlets move above Munster into second place in Conference B with the Irish side now needing at least two match points against Connacht on Sunday to secure a playoff place. A trio of Welsh Internationals all dotted down for Scarlets in the first half with Samson Lee, Steff Evans and James Davies all adding their names to the scoresheet while the Dragons replied with two of their own through Jared Rosser and Taine Basham. Johnny McNicholl sealed the bonus-point in the second half before Tom Rodgers and Dane Blacker also scored for Scarlets with Adam Warren scoring a late consolation try for the Dragons, as Scarlets ended up winning 41-20

The victory means that the Scarlets have gone two from two since the restart with Scarlets fans' now hoping that Connacht will do them a favour by denying Munster any match points on Sunday.

It was a first victory for the Scarlets at Rodney Parade since 2011 giving captain Ken Owens plenty to celebrate on the day he earned his 250th Scarlets cap.

The Dragons started the game brightly with centre Nick Tompkins at the heart of the Dragons attack alongside Sam Davies in the opening exchanges with the pair helping set up the attacking platform which saw the latter open the scoring with a penalty.

Samson Lee grasped the opportunity of scoring a rare try, only his second score in 148 appearances for the region, before Rosser responded with a finely crafted try for the Dragons. The Scarlets restored their advantage with Steff Evans going over in the corner before flanker James Davies increased the lead from the back of a driving maul.

Taine Basham responded in similar fashion for the Dragons as the Scarlets led 19-15 at half-time. Johnny McNicholl secured the bonus for the Scarlets as he dived on a clever grubber kick from Dan Jones as the Scarlets ran away with the game as replacements Rogers and Blacker added late scores.

Adam Warren added a late consolation try for the Dragons.