Dragons thrash Scarlets 80-14 in pre-season friendly

Dragons 80-14 Scarlets, Llandovery

Dragons RFC produced a ruthless second-half display to beat Scarlets 80-14 in their pre-season fixture at Church Bank in Llandovery.

The first half was competitive, with Dragons leading only 19-14 at the break after tries from Fine Inisi, Seb Davies and Harri Keddie. But the Men of Gwent took complete control after half-time, scoring 61 unanswered points to finish with 12 tries.

Elliot Dee scored twice after the interval, while Evan Minto, Tinus de Beer, Rhodri Williams, Harry Rees-Weldon, Sam Scarfe, David Richards and Joe Westwood also crossed in a dominant finish.

Inisi Opens Dragons Account

Dragons started brightly after Che Hope and Robert Hunt made welcome returns. Hope broke inside the opening 30 seconds and linked with Cai Evans as the visitors immediately went on the attack.

Evans and Jared Rosser made ground down the left before Thomas Young stepped through tackles and sent a floated pass to Keddie. The back rower then delivered the inside pass for Inisi to score.

Scarlets responded when Ioan Jones crossed in the corner after a quick tap penalty. Dragons then lost Levi Douglas, who was replaced by Davies.

Dragons Edge Ahead Before Break

Tinus de Beer’s penalty to the corner gave Dragons another platform, but Ryan Woodman was held up over the line. Scarlets were clinical at the other end, with loosehead Sam O’Connor crashing over after a lineout move.

Dragons continued to enjoy most of the possession, but Scarlets defended strongly for long spells. The pressure eventually told when Davies finished in the corner after repeated carries from Owain James and Rosser.

A slick lineout move then created another chance. Aneurin Owen carried strongly, De Beer went close, and Keddie powered over by the posts to give Dragons a 19-14 half-time lead.

Dragons Dominate Second Half

Dragons made nine changes at the break, and Dee made an immediate impact by scoring from a driving lineout, with De Beer converting.

Owen then broke the line to send Minto into space, before De Beer scored himself to complete a three-try burst that effectively settled the contest.

The backs then combined neatly as Huw Anderson and Westwood helped put Rhodri Williams over untouched. Dee added another try from a driving maul on the hour, before Rees-Weldon finished with a strong hand-off.

Scarfe scored from another powerful maul soon after coming on, and Fetuli Paea then sent Richards over from a backs move.

Westwood completed the scoring after capitalising on a loose ball and a kick through from Minto, sealing a heavy pre-season win for Dragons before their BKT United Rugby Championship opener in Italy.