Scarlets resist fightback from 14-men Leinster

Scarlets 38 - 29 Leinster, Llanelli

Riding on a five-try performance, Scarlets managed to survive a fightback from Leinster and handed a 38-29 defeat on the league leaders during their Pro 12 encounter at Llanelli on Friday.

Wing Johnny McNicholl (7'), prop Werner Kruger (21') and wing Steffan Evans (31') were the try scorers for Scarlets in the first half while fly-half Rhys Patchell converted all three of it to take them to 21 points in the first half.

Full-back Isa Nacewa's 26th minute penalty and hooker Richardt Strauss' try were the only points for the visitors before half time as they were trailing by 13 points.

Leinster suffered a major setback at the start of the second half when wing Barry Daly was red-carded after performing a high tackle on Aled Thomas.

The lead soon swelled to 27 points as number eight Will Boyde and hooker Ryan Elias crossed over capitalising on Leinster being one-man down and Patchell made it five out five conversions.

Just when it looked all but over for Leinster, they bounced back hard through tries from wing Adam Byrne (55'), replacement Tom Daly (59') and Andrew Porter (80') while Nacewa converted all three of it but eventually they fell short by nine points.

Leinster continue to lead the table with 32 points despite the defeat while Scarlets are placed fourth with 27 points.