Guinness Pro12: Scarlets 25-15 NG Dragons

Father and son Regan King and Jacob Cowley made Pro12 history by appearing together for Scarlets in their bonus-point win over Newport Gwent Dragons.

Wing Cowley, 18, came on after the hosts had secured a bonus point to stay top with James Davies' second try.

Veteran prop Phil John also went over twice while Dragons' tries came from Jason Tovey and Sarel Pretorius.

Tovey kicked the rest of the visitors' points while Aled Thomas put over a penalty and conversion for Scarlets.

King and Cowley are the first father and son to play together since the Welsh rugby regions were created in 2003

On the day head coach Wayne Pivac committed his future to the west Wales region, the introduction of Cowley alongside his 35-year-old father will also have pleased their fans.

But the return of number eight Taulupe Faletau, in a week where Wales coach Warren Gatland blocked a Bath bid to sign him, did not go well.

Faletau's usually sure hands let him down on several occasions and he was replaced after 61 minutes.

The hosts' performance was, however, worthy of celebration as they built a 12-0 lead en route to remaining unbeaten in the Pro12 in six starts.

Man-of-the-match Davies finished off a fine move for the opening try, converted by Thomas.

Loose-head prop John played his part in the build-up to the second that he finished off.

Tovey's penalty gave the Dragons hope and half-time approached, he profited from a Scarlets midfield fumble.

The Dragons fly-half kicked ahead and gathered the kind bounce to race away, but could not add the extras.

A Thomas penalty extended Scarlets' lead.

Having run in two tries from distance in the opening period, Scarlets' focus altered as John touched down from a driving maul.

Davies' second came via a similar route.

Taulupe Faletau (R) was a 2013 British and Irish Lion in Australia

Pretorius's dart to the line emphasised Dragons' battling qualities, but they were unable to make any further impression.

Scarlets coach Wayne Pivac told Scrum V: "We're happy to have six out of six, definitely, but the bonus point is what we were after today as well.

"No disrespect to the Dragons, but it was something we had sort of targeted and to get that was very satisfying.

"I thought we played pretty well in that first half and controlled things.

"But we fell away once we put some subs out there. We'll just have to look at that and make sure the guys coming on are very, very effective."

Dragons boss Lyn Jones told Scrum V: "It's extremely frustrating. We feel we're a team just as good as the Scarlets, if not better, but we can't translate what we do in the week to coming away from home.

"if we play at Rodney Parade it's not a problem. That's totally different to last season when away was good for us and Rodney Parade was hard.

"But it's soul-destroying to see that we just can't execute what we do in the week and that's a work-on.

"I thought Scarlets deserved their victory by a distance, but potentially we do have a side that can compete."

Teams:

Scarlets: Aled Thomas; Tom Williams, Regan King, Hadleigh Parkes, Harry Robinson; Steven Shingler, Rhodri Williams; Phil John, Ken Owens (capt), Peter Edwards, Jake Ball, Lewis Rawlins, Aaron Shingler, James Davies, John Barclay.

Replacements: Emyr Phillips, Dylan Evans, Will Taylor, George Earle, Jack Condy, Aled Davies, Dan Jones, Jacob Cowley.

Newport Gwent Dragons: Jason Tovey; Ashton Hewitt, Adam Hughes, Adam Warren, Nick Scott; Dorian Jones, Charlie Davies; Boris Stankovich, Elliot Dee, Brok Harris, Matthew Screech, Rynard Landman (capt), Ed Jackson, Nic Cudd, Taulupe Faletau.

Replacements: Rhys Buckley, Phil Price, Shaun Knight, Cory Hill, Ollie Griffiths, Sarel Pretorius, Geraint Rhys Jones, Carl Meyer.

Referee: Ben Whitehouse (WRU)

Assistant Referees: Neil Hennessy, Dan Jones (both WRU)

Citing Commissioner: Gwyn Bowden (WRU)

TMO: Derek Bevan (WRU)