Scarlets 5-35 Leinster: Miserable start to the season continues as yellow cards pile up

The Scarlets' discipline once again proved their downfall as their miserable start to the season continued with defeat to Leinster at Parc y Scarlets.

On a night when the west Walians wore their special 150th anniversary jersey for the first time to celebrate 50 years since Llanelli famously downed the All Blacks, a similar result was hoped for, if not truly expected after just one win in six league matches.

However, three yellow cards in the second-half for Dan Jones, Johnny McNicholl and Gareth Davies compounded a tough night for Dwayne Peel's side.

The start had hardly been auspicious either. It took just 40 seconds for the league leaders to cross for the opening score.

A backline strike play from an early lineout, gifted to them through an Aaron Shingler mistake, targeted unfamiliar centre Evans, splitting the passive Scarlets defence open for full-back Chris Cosgrave to dive over.

At that point, it looked like the floodgates could open at any point, but it would be the home side who scored next.

Midway through the half, a rare Scarlets attack saw Steff Evans put over in the corner by a long, looping pass from midfield partner Jonathan Davies.

Despite that, Leinster remained largely on top of the battle and got their reward five minutes later as Rob Russell received some luck when chasing his own kick. His grubber through was nudged forward accidentally by the head of hooker John McKee, with Russell continuing his pursuit to dive on the loose ball to score.

Leinster scored their third minutes after the half-time break, with Thomas Clarkson forcing his way over from close-range after a series of strong red-zone carries by the Irish province.

The Scarlets' discipline has been an issue throughout the season and that was the case