Scarlets' sad decline symptomatic of Welsh turmoil

It's only just over six years since the Scarlets were the kings of the United Rugby Championship.

And, like Munster last season, when they won the tournament, then the Pro12 in 2017, they did it the hard way.

Not enough to come to the RDS and beat Leinster in the semi-final, they managed it playing with 14 men for most of the game and were full value for a 27-15 win.

Wayne Pivac’s men came back to Dublin the following week to hand Munster a record defeat in the final.

A year later the Scarlets were once again in the decider, with Tadhg Beirne at number 8, but were blown away by a vengeful Leinster outfit at the Aviva Stadium.

But two finals in two years for a Welsh region was never really a massive overachievement.

The national team won three Six Nations titles between 2012 and 2019 and were a score away from reaching a World Cup final.

While the URC has undergone numerous format changes, the Scarlets have not managed to make the play-offs since losing that final in 2018.

Their overall finishing positions, after totting up the points in seasons with split conferences, have been eighth, fourth, fifth, seventh (Rainbow Cup), tenth and 14th last season.

Indeed, the most successful region, Ospreys, four-time winners between 2005 and 2012, have not featured in post-season games since 2017.

Ahead of this evening's clash at the RDS, Dwayne Peel’s charges sit 14th with one win from four to their name.

Their record against Leo Cullen’s side since that famous win in 2017 is played nine, won one, drawn one and lost seven, including a Champions Cup semi-final in 2018.

Last season’s table saw the Welsh regions, with the exception of Cardiff in tenth, occupy three of the four bottom places in the table, with only the winless Zebre propping them