Frustrated Scarletss fans vented their anger after seeing the Scarlets defence ripped to shreds with Scottish winger Thom Evans enhancing his British and Irish Lions claims with a clinical display on the wing. The speedster raced over for two well taken tries and was constantly looking for action.
The Scarlets dominated the opening 10 minutes but couldn’t breach the Glasgow defence and once the Scots scored against the run of play, the home side capitulated and saw their defence cut to ribbons on countless occasions.
Despite hogging possession and territory, the Scarlets’ best efforts proved in vain as Glasgow hit them with a sucker punch. Samoan winger Lome Fa’atau burst through between midfield duo Gavin Evans and Jonathan Davies to set up fellow wing Thom Evans who scrambled over in the corner despite Mark Jones’s last ditch tackle. Full-back Colin Gregor added the touchline to give Glasgow a flattering 7-0 lead.
The try spurred Glasgow on and four minutes later they increased their lead when flanker John Barclay cashed on some slack defence to score the visitors second try.
The Scarlets managed to stop the rot briefly with a penalty from Stephen Jones but a minute later Glasgow stunned the home fans with a third try when Barclay cut back in and outpaced Martyn Roberts to the tryline to give Gregor an easy conversion. With only 20 minutes gone, Glasgow already required just one more try for a bonus point as they cantered to a 19-3 lead.
The Scarlets defence were being given the runaround by Graeme Morrison whose brute strength and power in the Glasgow midfield was proving a constant menace.
Jones trimmed back three points with his second penalty but it was only a brief respite as Glasgow stormed over for their bonus point try with nine minutes still left to play in the first spell. Barclay was this time the provider after securing the ball at a line-out and giving the supporting Moray Low an easy stroll to the try-line. Gregor’s conversion took the score to 26-6.
The Scarlets finally managed to string a few phases and passes together to give Gavin Evans – who is departing Parc y Scarlets at the end of the season for a move to Cardiff Blues – squeezed over in Morrison’s tackle. With Jones adding a penalty with the last kick of the half, the Scarlets had cut the deficit to 12 points to trail 14-26.
The Scots piled on the misery when the Scarlets defence allowed a Fa’atau chip to bounce and Max Evans gleefully accepted the gift to race clear under the posts for a converted try in the 42nd minute.
Scarlets flanker Dafydd Jones produced a bit of individual magic when picking up from a ruck and danced his way over from 15 metres. With Jones adding the conversion, the Scarlets had pegged the score back to 21-33.
The Scots ruthlessly exposed the Scarlets porous defence in the 55th minute when replacement Darren Daniel spilled the ball. Quick as a flash, the ball was moved to Thom Evans who brushed off Davies’s attempted tackle to score in the corner.
The Scarlets sniffed a chance of getting back into the game when Glasgow’s Kelly Brown was sin binned but schoolboy mistakes prevented them from taking advantage.
Scorers: Scarlets: Tries – Gavin Evans, Dafydd Jones; Con – Jones; Pens – Jones (3)
Glasgow: Tries – Thom Evans (2), Barclay (2), Low, Max Evans, Cons – Gregor (4)
