Scarlets have no answer to Carty boot

By ROGER PANTING

Scarlets ……23pts

Tries: J Williams 18, Penalty Try 65

Conversions: D Jones 18

Penalties: D Jones 4, 35; Patchell 76

Connacht ….29pts

Tries: Arnold 21, Fifita 39, Porch 53

 Conversions: Carty 39

Penalties: Carty 26, 33, 43, 49

CONNACHT captain Jack Carty kicked 14 points to steer his side to their first win in Llanelli for over 17 years.

That victory was achieved at Scarlets' famous old ground at Stradey Park as their previous 11 visits to Parc-y-Scarlets have all ended in failure. A win didn't look likely as the Irish were comfortably second best in the opening quarter but a crucial mistake from Scarlets' fly-half Dan Jones got Connacht off and running.

Scarlets' defeat meant that they have now lost to all four Irish provinces this season and this was another disappointing performance from them as it was not until the ill-discipline of Connacht lock Leva Fifita in the final quarter that Scarlets were able to make a game of it.

Very few of the Scarlets impressed and one of the only positives was a welcome try-scoring return for Welsh international centre Johnny Williams.

Jones kicked Scarlets into an early lead with a straightforward penalty before Connacht suffered a further setback when their No.8, Paul Boyle, departed for an HIA.

Scarlets came close to scoring the opening try when a neat off-load from Sam Lousi sent Aaron Shingler away but the flanker couldn't find Dane Blacker with the scoring pass.

A couple of errors from Connacht full-back Tiernan O'Halloran gifted the home side a platform in the Irish 22. Scarlets made it count when a superbly judged chip ahead from Scott Williams was collected by Johnny Williams to score for the centre to celebrate his first game back after a three-month absence with a calf injury.

Connacht didn't fire a shot in the first quarter but they were presented with their first points. On winning a penalty on half-way, Dan Jones launched a cross-field only for it to fall to Tom Daly who raced away to provide Sam Arnold with an easy runin as Scarlets' players looked on in disbelief.

Carty missed the conversion but was on target with two simple penalties before Jones replied with one for Scarlets.

With the last move of the half, Connacht scored their second try when Fifita forced his way over from close range with Carty's conversion giving his side an 18-13 interval lead.

Carty extended the advantage with two penalties in quick succession before Scarlets introduced half-backs, Rhys Patchell and Kieran Hardy, in the hope of reversing their fortunes.

It didn't pay dividends as John Porch immediately scored Connacht's third try as Scarlets conceded a succession of penalties and frequently lost line-outs.

Trailing 29-13 with 15 minutes remaining, Scarlets needed some impetus and a yellow card for Fifita for a deliberate off-side and a penalty try award gave them a glimmer of hope.

Scarlets blew a couple of opportunities in Fifita's absence and he was able to return with no damage done to the scoreboard.

However a minute after his return, Fifita late tackled Ioan Nicholas and was given a second yellow to pick up a red card with Patchell kicking the resulting penalty to earn his side a losing bonus point.