Connacht beat Scarlets to stay in play-off hunt

United Rugby Championship

Connacht (12) 31

Tries: Jansen 2, Aungier, Barrett, De Buitlear Cons: Naughton 3

Scarlets (0) 14

Connacht boosted their United Rugby Championship play-off hopes by overcoming Scarlets in Galway.

Stuart Lancaster’s side backed up their wins against Zebre and Glasgow to climb to ninth in the table, level with Bulls before their derby with Stormers on Saturday.

Connacht number eight Sean Jansen went over twice – taking his tally for the season to 10 – for a 12-0 lead at the break.

With a double-header in South Africa still to play, Connacht realistically needed a bonus-point win in their bid for the top eight.

They got it thanks to tries by props Jack Aungier and Fiachna Barrett, with a further score by hooker Eoin de Buitlear.

Scarlets had threatened a comeback after tries by centre Joe Roberts and full-back Ioan Jones but failed to claim a match point for the first time in five games since Nigel Davies returned as interim director of rugby in January.

The fixture was rearranged from round two in October when the Llanelli side could not travel to Galway due to Storm Amy.

That meant both sides had lengthy lists of absentees due to Six Nations duty and injury.

In a test of squad depth, it was the hosts who coped better by showing a more clinical edge.

Connacht hit the front through Jansen’s powerful finish after a quick tap before centre John Devine was denied a try on his first senior start after he was guilty of obstruction in the build-up.

Scarlets almost made the most of that escape but Munster-bound hooker Marnus van der Merwe was held up over the line after a quick tap.

It looked game over at 19-0 when Aungier crashed over from close range but Scarlets responded with a pair of superb tries.

Centre Roberts went over from distance after a canny dummy and then offloaded to allow full-back Jones to weave over on his first Scarlets start.

However, Connacht nerves were settled when Barrett followed a huge carry by hammering over from close range to make it 24-14 as the hour approached.

The win was sealed when the lively De Buitlear went over after a series of hard carries on the line.

Scarlets’ hopes of chasing at least one bonus point were dashed when Jac Davies’ try with four minutes to play was chalked off for a forward pass.

Connacht: Gilbert; Jennings, Devine, Forde, Mullins; Ioane, Reilly; Dooley, Tierney-Martin, Aungier, O’Connor, Joyce, J Murphy, Boyle (capt), Jansen.

Replacements: de Buitlear, Duggan, Barrett, Murray, O’Brien, B Murphy, Naughton, McCormack.

Scarlets: I Jones; J Davies, Roberts, Williams, Page; Leggatt-Jones, G Davies; Mathias, van der Merwe, Henry Thomas, Lousi, Ball, Douglas, Taylor, Anderson (capt).

Replacements: Harry Thomas, S O’Connor, H O’Connor, Price, Davis, A Hughes, McDonald, Lewis.

Referee: Ru Campbell (Scotland)

Assistants: Padraic Reidy, Tomas O’Sullivan (Ireland)