BBC SPORT | Rugby Union | Celtic | Scarlets demolish sorry Swansea

Celtic League - Pool A
Llanelli 62-6 Swansea

Llanelli showed little mercy against local rivals Swansea as they notched up eight unanswered tries in a hot-blooded derby at Stradey Park.

The All Whites were forced to play over half of the match with thirteen men as Gavin Henson and Dean Thomas were sent off for violent play.

And the Scarlets certainly made their numerical advantage count.

To be fair, the home side were well in control even before the red cards were shown, but the second-half was a non-event as Llanelli scored six tries almost at will.

Scoring details

Llanelli (24) 62
Tries: G. Evans, Watkins, L. Davies, S. Jones (2), Wyatt, I. Boobyer, Selley
Cons: S. Jones (5)
Pens: S. Jones (4)

Swansea (6) 6
Pens: A. Thomas (2)

The result all but ends Swansea's hopes of qualifying for the quarter-finals and the players have their work cut-out to recover in time for the first Heineken Cup match next week.

Llanelli on the other hand stay on course for the next round of the Celtic League and will be brimming with confidence after such a handsome victory.

The Scarlets grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck in the opening 20 minutes as Stephen Jones made Swansea pay for a slow start.

The fly-half kicked three penalties and then added a try as the Scarlets made their total dominance of the early exchanges pay dividends.

Swansea's cause was certainly not helped when Irish referee David McHugh sent flanker Dean Thomas to the sin-bin after 15 minutes for deliberately killing the ball.

That offence was immediately punished by Jones with a penalty in front of the posts, and five minutes later he eased through the Swansea midfield defence to score the opening try.

The conversion opened up a 16-point lead.

Llanelli's Stephen Jones
Jones crosses for his second try
Swansea then finally secured some possession, and the expected high intensity rucking and tackling materialised.

Both captains had said they were expecting some "cheap shots", and Llanelli winger Salesi Finau was lucky to escape punishment as he aimed a few close-range left hooks at Swansea captain Scott Gibbs.

But that was merely a taste of things to come. Swansea winger Gavin Henson was given a straight red card for a purposely throwing Garan Evans into the advertising hoardings.

And then Thomas received a second yellow card just two minutes later for a high tackle which meant he would also sit out the rest of the match.

Before the flurry of cards, Swansea fly-half Arwel Thomas had landed two penalties either side of another three points from Jones to take the score to 19-6.

Thirteen points adrift and thirteen men on the field, things were looking bad enough for Swansea.

But it was soon even worse as Chris Wyatt was driven over by the Llanelli pack for his side's second try on the stroke of half-time.

Swansea winger Gavin Henson is sent off by referee David McHugh
A stunned Henson gets his marching orders
Jones missed the penalty, but the Scarlets were certainly satisfied with a 24-6 score at the interval and a two man advantage.

If Swansea had any thoughts of an unlikely second-half comeback, those were quickly laid to rest as Llanelli cut loose.

Jones was the first to benefit from some Swansea mishandling and then flanker Ian Boobyer pounced on a loose ball as the Swansea scrum buckled.

The fifth and sixth tries soon followed from captain Leigh Davies and replacement Taliesin Selley as the Scarlets notched up 50 points with a quarter of the game still to go.

Garan Evans and Matthew Watkins wrapped-up the try scoring in the last ten minutes to rub salt into the Swansea wound.

Llanelli: G Evans; M Jones, M Watkins, L Davies (capt), S Finau; S Jones, D Peel; I Thomas, M Thomas, J Davies, L Gross, C Wyatt, J Cudmore, D Jones, I Boobyer.
Reps: M Madden, P John, V Cooper, G Williams, G Easterby, G Bowen, T Selley.

Swansea: S Payne; M Robinson, S Winn, S Gibbs (capt), G Henson; A Thomas, S Cordingley; D Dorsey, C Balshen, B Evans, A Farley, J Slade, C Charvis, J Thomas, D Thomas.
Reps: D Colclough, S Pope, J Griffiths, R Jenkins, T Tamarua, R Jones, M Taylor.

Referee: David McHugh (Ireland)


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