Dragons v Scarlets five takeaways: Ill-discipline the ‘point of difference’ as half backs add ‘zip’ to rivalry
Dragons v Scarlets five takeaways: Ill-discipline the 'point of difference' as half backs add 'zip' to rivalry
Ill-discipline cost the Scarlets on New Year’s Day, with their visit to the Dragons ending in a heavy 28-5 defeat.
Here are our five takeaways.
Top line
It was a furious start to the match, with the Scarlets’ expansive game style resulting in the first touchdown over in the left-hand corner. Their early celebrations were quickly halted, however, after the officials deemed the final pass to have been forward.
Just minutes later, the Dragons were over for a score of their own, and this one would stand. Tinus de Beer was the recipient following a fast-paced attack consisting of direct running from the midfield and quick play off the nine.
With the Scarlets now under the pump and the Dragons beating them physically, their first signs of ill-discipline reared its ugly head. A yellow card for 21-year-old Harvey Cuckson sent the men in red down to just 14 players for 10 minutes.
Scarlets’ defensive kicking plan enabled the visitors to hold out against their hosts for the next 10 minutes, and were then rewarded with an opportunistic try of their own through young fullback Ellis Mee as the first half drew to a close.
That would be the final positive aspect of the game for the Scarlets. As the second half started, Max Douglas was shown a 20-minute red card. During this time, Dragons would extend their lead twice; first through Oli Burrows and then David Richards, who cut a wonderful line to then step the flailing final defender.
George Roberts sealed the deal with two tries in the final minutes, although the final one was chalked off due to a supporting player getting in the way of a would-be Scarlets tackler.
It was a bonus-point victory for the Dragons, and a quiet trip home for the Scarlets.
Dragons identity personified
The Dragons had a very clear playing style and identity. They ran hard and straight, their tackling was strong, and they didn’t force plays that didn’t require it.
South African fly-half De Beer personified the Dragons. He fought well above his weight, kicked hard, calculated his next play carefully and played with a smile on his face. He worked terrifically in tandem with his young scrum-half, Che Pope, who put real zip on his passes and added some much-needed speed to the Dragons’ attack.
Although it was an incredibly young Dragons side, the cohesion between them promises much more to come.
Scarlets expansive, just not impactful
Scarlets almost had an identity, but not quite. They kicked extremely well when they used the boot, and they looked to spin the ball out wide on many occasions, but overall, the attack struggled to contain the punch it needed for this strategy to work. There simply weren’t enough power runners up the centre to create any sort of go-forward.
Instead, they relied on the Dragons‘ back three to make mistakes with the ball kicked behind them, or even hoped that their widemen would be able to beat theirs.
Sadly, because there was no yardage being made up the middle, the Scarlets often found their wide channel opposition ready and waiting to close up any sort of space they had hoped to find. By the end of the match, the visitors appeared to have lost all motivation to put together an attack of their own. Instead, they looked punch-drunk and incapable of keeping hold of the ball.
The stats don’t lie
Scarlets had 61% of possession and had over double the number of passes and carries of their hosts. On that stat alone, many would think that they would come out on top. The other statistics tell a different story, however.
Although the Dragons were forced into making many more tackles than their opponents, it was actually the Scarlets who missed the most tackles – indicating that the Dragons’ attack was much more efficient than the Scarlets. And although the Scarlets carried a lot more, they also gave the ball away a remarkable 14 times. So, although they had plenty of ball, they certainly didn’t do much with it.
Ill-discipline – the point of difference
The penalty count was high for both sides. The Dragons conceded 11 whilst the Scarlets were guilty of 13. Against better sides, these could be the point of difference. Here, however, it was the coloured cards from the referee’s pocket that effectively decided how the game was going to go.
For 37.5% of the match (not including time-over), the Scarlets were down to 14 men. During these periods of player disadvantage, Scarlets conceded 14 points. Although the game was won by the Dragons by more than 14 points, the impact it had on the game was much more than just the scoreline.
Prior to the red card, the Scarlets still had a genuine chance of winning the match. After the 20-minute red card was up, there was just a quarter of the match remaining, and the visitors abandoned their game plan in an effort to chase the game. This led to yet more scores being conceded and an embarrassing final scoreline.
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