Two tries: George North
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Scarlets provided the biggest shock of the opening weekend of the PRO12 with a 45-20 demolition of European champions Leinster at Parc y Scarlets.
Scott Williams and Liam Williams scored two first-half tries as the hosts led 14-6 at the break, with Ian Madigan responding for the visitors. Further tries in the second half from Wales' international George North (twice), Andy Fenby (twice) and Kieran Murphy confirmed the win.
The visitors managed consolation scores through Devin Toner and Madigan, but they have failed to win on the opening day for the past five years.
Due to reasons beyond their control, the Irish province went into the game with 11 international players unavailable and a further seven injured. They therefore had an unfamiliar looking line-up.
However, the defending Heineken Cup champions managed to open the scoring through Madigan. Their lead didn't last long, though, as centre Williams went over, Aled Thomas converting.
The other Williams, full-back Liam, became the next player to breach the Leinster defence after slick hands along the hosts' backline sent him across the whitewash.
Scarlets' fly-half Thomas once again did the honours from the tee as the Welsh region led 14-3, although Madigan reduced the deficit just before half-time.
But the home side continued their dominance in the second half as an unconverted try from North extended the advantage. A superb Aaron Shingler break then saw Fenby touch down, Thomas converting, as Leinster's challenge faded.
However, their severely weakened outfit were gallant throughout and were rewarded with Toner going over for a converted score.
Leinster's brief resistance was ended when late tries from Murphy, North and Fenby - the latter two converted by Rhys Priestland - added gloss to the scoreline.
Madigan had the last word when he went over with the last move of the match.
The scorers:
For Scarlets:
Tries: M. Williams, L. Williams, North 2, Fenby 2, Murphy
Cons: Thomas 3, Priestland
For Leinster:
Tries: Toner, Madigan
Cons: Madigan 2
Pens: Madigan 2
Scarlets:15 Liam Williams, 14 George North, 13 Gareth Maule, 12 Scott Williams, 11 Andy Fenby, 10 Aled Thomas, 9 Tavis Knoyle, 8 Rob McCusker (c), 7 Josh Turnbull, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Richard Kelly, 4 George Earle, 3 Deacon Manu, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Rhodri Jones.
Replacements: 16 Matthew Rees, 17 Phil John, 18 Samson Lee, 19 Sione Timani, 20 Kieran Murphy, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Rhys Priestland, 23 Jonathan Davies.
Leinster: 15 Isa Nacewa, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Brendan Macken, 12 Noel Reid, 11 Fionn Carr, 10 Ian Madigan, 9 Isaac Boss, 8 Leo Auva'a, 7 Shane Jennings (c), 6 Dominic Ryan, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Damian Browne, 3 Jamie Hagan, 2 Richardt Strauss, 1 Heinke van der Merwe.
Replacements: 16 Aaron Dundon, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 Martin Moore, 19 Tom Denton, 20 Jordi Murphy, 21 John Cooney, 22 Collie O'Shea, 23 Darren Hudson.
Venue: Parc y Scarlets
Referee: Neil Paterson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Tim Hayes (Wales), Martyn Lewis (Wales)
Television match official: Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)
Comments
leinsterblue says...
well, we were awful - no other way to describe it...we handed out a few beatings at home last season, notably to Bath and Edinburgh - so being on the end of one was not a nice feeling...there were a few bright spots in our performance - Dominic Ryan played well till he was carried off (hopefully not too serious) and I honestly did not think that Madigan played that badly...but the midfield was the weakest link - it leaked like a sieve and we seemed to have forgotten how to tackle...our scrum held up pretty well...I thought that up to half time we still had somewhat of a shout, but tactically we fell apart when the second half substitutions started...
well done to the Scarlets - they exploited our weknesses to the fullest and really gave us a hiding...
glad to see 'crouch, touch, set' gave the scrums more stability - there were not that many penalties / free kicks at scrum time...
Posted 11:08 02nd September 2012
kinsman says...
@papachinzo, the point is that you can forget about it because the league is irrelevant. Other teams in different leagues forget their warm-up matches too.
Posted 10:18 02nd September 2012
three6three6 says...
What a great result for the Scarlets and running rugby.... what an attractive brand of rugby they play! Who really cares that Leinster had many players injured or unavailable, what does matter is the intent of the Scarlets!
Posted 04:02 02nd September 2012
Ramage says...
Dear oh dear.
Posted 03:40 02nd September 2012
ciaran1792 says...
We all get a hammering now and then but that's no reason to be unsportsmanlike like. Only Strauss, Boss, Nacewa, Jennings and Toner were first XV. Who cares what the English think of the league. it's the first week and the IRFU contracted players aren't back yet. Tigersroar get stuffed. Your team has been useless since the early 2000's and were lucky to get to the final in 09. I don't care about the premiership and the T14 having to qualify. Because 6 French and English teams qualify they just have to fight for there place because there are too many teams in both country's. Well Ireland only gets 3 in as does Wales and now you want us to risk our spots with the likelihood of excluding the Italians and Scottish teams from the European cup. Shove the whole Heineken cup up your arse's! Your only complaining because your teams can step up with the big boys! You didn't want to reshape the tournament 5 years ago when the French and English were all wining. But now teams are better than you and you point the fingers at us to restructure our tournament because your teams aren't rotated properly. Why don't you centrally contract your players so they aren't to worn out instead of messing with the Celtic league. I honestly love the Heineken cup but I would rather destroy the whole competition than take orders from the Anglo-French alliance who are trying to grab more money and put themselves in a clear advantage. It is not in the interest of the competition to decrees the the team numbers! How else do you grow the game all around Europe?
Posted 01:45 02nd September 2012
melkdave says...
So glad Lienster got really hammered ,perhaps just perhaps it will go someway ,to changing this daft IRFU policy of resting players enmass.For one thing it just doesnt work ,if you go by the national teams performances in recent years.Why because it doesnt cater to individual players needs,everyone is different,some will need rest and conditioning,while others will need gametime to get sharp and really match fit.I really hope that Lienster get hammered again ,when they are forced to rest players by the IRFU.In fact if i was the coach of Leinster.Munster/.Ulster come the HEC matches id play those players whos performed well in the league , as a reward ,and damn the IRFU as a protest for interfering in what should be a club and its medical teams decisions about resting players ect.But then it will never happen .
Posted 01:37 02nd September 2012
IreSonny says...
@TigersRoar "Joke of a league" if memory serves me correct Exeter destroyed Sale 43-6 and i believe both of those teams are also in the H-Cup, i'm not defending leinster for putting up a 2nd/3rd string team but u can only blame the irish management for that. so dont insult this league otherwise the english and french leagues are both "jokes".
Posted 23:17 01st September 2012
brighty says...
TigersRoar, our joke of a league has produced a stack of HC and Grand Slam winning teams in the last few years. Our approach is anathema to the club led, money dominated English and French leagues, something that further annoys them because our approach is proven to breed winners, something England would love to have. It's run on the same lines as the super 15 - no relegation, franchises, etc. That league seems to have done fine for the SH countries. We beat the Eng and Fra teams because we are better than them, not just because our league is not run exactly as you think it should be. When you start winning things then maybe we will look at your approach, but until then we are happy with how things are going for us.
Posted 22:59 01st September 2012
TigersRoar says...
Joke of a league, just adds ammunition to the arguments from the English and French!
Posted 22:23 01st September 2012
papachinzo says...
Expected a loss, I've already forgotten about this. Onto next weeks game.
@Toulousain What is "Arsene Wenger" and What is this Carling cup you speak of?!
If I recall correctly, The last two French teams Leinster played, the French teams made a big deal about it. So go away with your 'The H-Cup is just a warm up for the bench' dribble.
Posted 22:02 01st September 2012
Toulousain says...
"biggest shock of the opening w/e"? hardly. ospreys was bigger upset. this was leinster missing 11 ireland internationals and 7 more players injured vs scarlets missing only a few.
the big question is: does it matter? will leinster be fighting for survival come the end of the season? will they still qualify for HCup? will anyone remember this fixture come the business end of the season? of course not.
will be curious to see how the teams line up in HCup since they are in the same pool. bet leinster's XV will look different (if a little under-cooked) by then.... maybe scarlets will hope tonight's result gives them a psychological edge?
P.S. @ all the leinster bloggers. get used to people having a pop (including PR writers for that matter). that's what happens when you're the best team (especially if you brag about winning when people know the system isn't fair).
P.P.S. Arsene Wenger doesn't brag to Alex Ferguson if Arsenal win the Carling Cup. That's what French teams think about the HCup. It's just some game time for academy players to keep the 1st XV bench sharp.
Posted 20:58 01st September 2012
leinster_goy says...
embarrassing......pure knick knacks. it was one of those matches where you find yourself praying for the final whistle. the basic errors and missed tackles was understandable in the backline considering the inexperience of the young lads, but the performance of the front 8, which had plenty of experience in its ranks, was pathetic. Madders has come on in leaps and bounds in the past 12 months but he had a royal stinker tonight. the scrum was the one silver lining, then again the scarlets are not renowned for their powerful pack
in any case, there's nothing like a good kick up the batty on the first day of the season to shake a few egos. no pain no gain, und so weiter
Posted 20:43 01st September 2012
makemehappy says...
Which Leinster player stole the refs yellow card??? Pathetic cheating by Leinster from the word go, and they were still hammered. Do we have to put up with these cheats or the ref? A disgrace to the game!! Well done Scarlets - you played rugby and put the cheats to the sword.
Sniff out the Leinster supporters. They will smell as they were truly shat on tonight! By the way - I don't even support the Scarlets!
Posted 20:33 01st September 2012