'Ill-discipline' gave Scarlets early control as Cullen disappointed his side didn't 'pitch up'

DISAPPOINTED: Leinster Head Coach Leo Cullen was disappointed with his sides loss to Scarlets. Pic: Chris Fairweather/Sportsfile

URC: Scarlets 35 Leinster 22

While they are still strong favourites to seal top spot in the regular season table, Leinster head coach Leo Cullen admitted he was somewhat disappointed in the wake of his side’s 13-point defeat to Scarlets in the United Rugby Championship in Llanelli on Saturday.

Eight points clear of Glasgow Warriors heading into their showdown with the Welsh outfit at Parc y Scarlets, the eastern province had a golden opportunity to secure first place in the final URC standings with two rounds left to play. Yet Dwayne Peel’s hosts were desperate for a win to boost their own play-off hopes and in the absence of a whole host of first-choice players ahead of this Saturday’s European Champions Cup semi-final bout against Northampton Saints, Leinster suffered just their second reversal of the 2024/25 season.

“We lost control of the game pretty early on because of our ill-discipline at the start. That gave them reasonable access. We knew the Scarlets would be up for the game because they’ve got so much to play for. It wasn’t like things we hadn’t discussed during the week and I was a bit disappointed with the way our guys didn’t really pitch up,” Cullen remarked after the game.

While Diarmuid Mangan and Jamie Osborne crossed the whitewash in the opening period to supplement five points from the boot of Ross Byrne, Leinster found themselves seven points adrift (22-15) at the interval in Llanelli.

In addition to Sam Costelow amassing seven points off the kicking tee, Gareth Davies, Tom Rogers and Taine Plumtree all bagged tries for Scarlets in an entertaining first half.

The hosts secured a bonus point when Joe Roberts dotted down within two minutes of the resumption, but Leinster gave themselves a fighting chance of a comeback victory when bustling back-row James Culhane rounded off an extended attack with a 47th minute try.

However, Byrne’s conversion to this effort proved to be Leinster’s final score of the action and with Scarlets replacement Ioan Lloyd knocking over a brace of penalties, Cullen’s men have some work left to do before being assured of remaining on home soil for the duration of their URC knockout campaign.

SCARLETS: B Murray; T Rogers (M Page 64), J Roberts, J Williams, E Mee; S Costelow (I Lloyd 48), G Davies (A Hughes 75); A Hepburn, R Elias (M van der Merwe 55), H Thomas (S Wainwright 55); A Craig (J Price 69), S Lousi; V Fifita, J MacLeod, T Plumtree (J Taylor 75).

LEINSTER: C Frawley; A Osborne (C Tector 51), L Turner (R Moloney 78), J Osborne, J O’Brien; R Byrne, F Gunne (C Foley 64); C Healy (J Boyle 51), R Kelleher (G McCarthy 51), T Clarkson (R Slimani 51); R Baird (S Penny 40-43), B Deeny (D Mangan 15); A Soroka, W Connors (S Penny 48), J Culhane.

Referee: M Adamson (SRU).