Scarlets suffer cruel late defeat in Bayonne after spirited display

The Scarlets suffered late heartbreak in Bayonne after a Joris Segonds penalty two minutes from time resulted in a cruel 17-16 defeat for the Welsh club.

Ioan Lloyd nudged the Scarlets ahead with a long-range penalty with just five minutes to go but the Welsh club had to make do with a losing bonus point. After Lloyd had put the Scarlets ahead they activated their get out of jail card after Bayonne had a try disallowed.

The Scarlets looked set to take the spoils but referee Gianluca Gnecchi awarded the hosts a penalty after Archer Holz had pushed a Bayonne player off the ball. This gave Segonds an opportunity to seal the victory for the home side.

But this was a brave effort by the Scarlets who were missing up to 10 front line players and will fancy their chances of reaching the knockout stages after picking up a losing bonus point.

The Scarlets made a decent start when Ioan Lloyd knocked over a straightforward penalty after the hosts got penalised at the scrum. But for the next 30 minutes Bayonne dominated proceedings and the Scarlets were unable to halt their powerful carriers while they also struggled at the set-piece.

After a couple of narrow escapes Argentina international Rodrigo Bruni powered over from short-range with Camille Lopez adding the extras. Bayonne should have been further in front when wing Nadir Megdoud sliced through the Scarlets defence only to get held up over the line by Ellis Mee.

The hosts continued to squeeze their Welsh visitors and after a period of intense pressure former France number 10 Lopez crossed for Bayonne's second try which he converted.

Peel's side struggled to get their hands on the ball and their efforts weren't helped with Lloyd kicking two restarts out on the full. But the