Thrilling final day derby ends all square
Aaron Wainwright grabbed a farewell try as Dragons and Scarlets served up a high-scoring 35-35 derby draw after a pulsating BKT United Rugby Championship encounter a soggy Parc y Scarlets.
The Wales international crashed over in the first half as both teams slugged it out in a fascinating contest.
But there was no victory to sign off the season as the home side battled back and ensured Dragons had to settle for a fourth draw of the campaign.
Thomas Young, Brodie Coghlan and Wainwright had grabbed first half tries in the rain as the Men of Gwent took a lead to the break.
An end to end second half saw Dragons wrap up the try bonus with a penalty try but also gift soft scores to keep the home side in touching distance before a dramatic finale as Joe Hawkins missed a late penalty to win.
Head Coach Filo Tiatia made four changes to the side that were defeated by Edinburgh as the curtain fell on the league campaign.
Woodman – called up by Wales this week for the Nations Championship – returned in the back row while there was also a change up front as Wyn Jones faced his former club.
Scrum half Niall Armstrong was recalled to play his final game for the club in Llanelli while wing David Richards also returned out wide.
Scarlets made a dream start as Taine Plumtree kicked down the right wing and benefitted from a kind bounce to acrobatically dive in the corner after just 70 seconds.
Dragons, though, hit back inside four minutes as Wainwright carried powerfully and Coghlan was smashed up close before O’Brien showed his strength and Young dotted down. O’Brien converted to level the scores.
The visitors were working powerfully in the loose in the opening exchanges and when Scarlets were penalised at the breakdown up stepped O’Brien for three more.
Obstruction by Tom Rogers, as Dyer chased a high Armstrong kick, saw O’Brien kick to the corner twice and from the second the maul rumbled over with Coghlan the man to dot down for his sixth try of the season.
The game was shooting from end to end in the opening quarter as a scrum penalty saw home playmaker Hawkins kick to the corner and the home forwards went to work for Plumtree to score his second from close range.
The penalties were flowing in the rain as Scarlets were pinged for not rolling away. But this time loose handling let Dragons down to let the home side off the hook.
A ball then squirmed out the side of a home scrum and Armstrong fed Richards, but when the ball was worked in field it was knocked on in the shadow of the posts.
Dragons were next to feel home pressure but this time the Scarlets missed the opportunity as Dillon Lewis swooped at the breakdown on his own line after big home carries from Josh MacLeod and Max Douglas.
A kick in behind from Tinus de Beer saw Plumtree race back and hack clear as both teams tried to contend with a greasy ball as the half wore on.
A sublime break from O’Brien and offloads to Armstrong and Young punched a hole. De Beer raced in to play scrum half and quick hands from Coghlan and Owen sent Wainwright over on his final appearance.
The second half saw the wet weather slow up and O’Brien add to the lead with a penalty after 43 minutes with a sweetly struck kick after Scarlets infringed.
Scarlets started to win the territory battle as they looked to capitalise on away mistakes and Hawkins twice kicked to the corner with the second drive brilliantly held up by Armstrong as MacLeod looked to crash over.
Tiatia changed up the front row with half hour to go and introduced Keddie, but it was the home side who came back into the game as MacLeod latched onto a loose lineout to score.
Armstrong pinned the home side back with an intelligent kick just before the hour mark before Dragons turned to the driving maul.
Scarlets held up the drive and Tiatia’s men showed composure before de Beer found Dyer who left Hawkins with his step and showed his power to make the corner only to lose control as he slid over the line. However, the TMO stepped in and awarded the penalty try for the tackle and yellow carded Gareth Davies.
Back came Scarlets and a charge down in the 22 fell for the home side and Jarrod Taylor diver under the sticks to cut the lead to four once more.
Scarlets were reduced to 13 men when replacement Carwyn Leggatt-Jones was yellow carded for a slap down in midfield. O’Brien opted to add the three to make it a one score game – a kick that sent him third in the club’s all-time points scoring charts.
Hawkins missed a shot at goal as the home side looked to eat into the clock and when players returned they looked to level up the game. A penalty and kick to the corner set up an attack and they worked the ball in field for a kick to pick out Page to score out wide.
A late scrum penalty gave Hawkins the kick to be a match winner, but his effort pulled up short as it ended all square.
Timeline:
02m Plumtree t Hawkins c 7-0
04m Young t O’Brien c 7-7
09m O’Brien p 7-10
12m Coghlan t O’Brien c 7-17
16m Plumtree t Hawkins c 14-17
36m Wainwright t 14-22
43m O’Brien p 14-25
51m MacLeod t Hawkins c 21-25
58m Penalty t 21-32
59m Taylor t Hawkins c 28-32
64m O’Brien p 28-35
75m Page t Hawkins c 35-35
Scarlets Rugby: Ioan Jones; Tom Rogers, Macs Page, Joe Roberts, Blair Murray; Joe Hawkins, Dane Blacker; Josh Morse, Ryan Elias, Archer Holz, Jac Price, Max Douglas, Jarrod Taylor, Josh Macleod, Taine Plumtree
Replacements: Harry Thomas, Sam O’Connor, Harri O’Connor, Dan Davis, Osian Williams, Gareth Davies, Carwyn Leggatt-Jones, Jac Davies
Dragons RFC: Angus O’Brien, David Richards, Fine Inisi, Aneurin Owen, Rio Dyer, Tinus de Beer, Niall Armstrong (Williams 61); Wyn Jones (Jones 51), Brodie Coghlan (Dee 51), Dillon Lewis (Coleman 51), Seb Davies, Ben Carter, Ryan Woodman (Keddie 51), Thomas Young, Aaron Wainwright
Replacements: Elliot Dee, Rhodri Jones, Chris Coleman, Levi Douglas, Harrison Keddie, Rhodri Williams, Harri Ackerman, Huw Anderson
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (WRU, 116th game)
Attendance: 7,418
