United Rugby Championship: Dragons 31-14 Scarlets - Hughes seals record home win

Sio Tomkinson scored Dragons' third try

Dragons ended their 10-game losing run with a record league win over Scarlets at the Principality Stadium.

Elliot Dee, Jordan Williams and Sio Tomkinson all scored in a 10-minute blitz after Scarlets lock Vaea Fifita's third-minute yellow card.

Kieran Hardy and Carwyn Tupulotu responded either side of half-time for a lacklustre Scarlets.

However, Steff Hughes' last-gasp try wrapped up a bonus-point win for the Dragons in the Judgement Day opener.

Any fears that a game with little riding on it would slumber were swiftly wiped out in the space of three minutes when Fifita lashed out.

Scarlets head coach Dwayne Peel's heart was in his mouth as referee Jaco Peyper reviewed the strike on Aaron Wainwright.

Fifita's involvement in next week's European Challenge Cup semi-final rested on the colour of Peyper's card.

And coincidentally it was television match official (TMO) Brian MacNeice - who disallowed Fifita's try at Glasgow last week - who helped prevent a yellow becoming red.

However, it still opened the door for Dragons to score three tries against the 14 men.

They have the most efficient line-out in the league (89%) and it was third time lucky with the driving maul when hooker Dee burrowed over.

Williams followed just two minutes later but the try was all about the dazzling footwork of Rio Dyer.

Vaea Fifita was shown a yellow carded for striking Aaron Wainwright

The Wales wing turned the unfortunate Ryan Conbeer inside out and then stepped on the gas before casually sending Williams over with a one-handed pass.

Dyer was denied a try of his own moments later after stepping around Tom Rogers - but into touch - before acrobatically touching down inside the corner flag.

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But Dragons were running riot and centre Tomkinson caught Scarlets napping with a quickly taken penalty when he dived between the posts.

Scarlets were 21-0 down by the time Fifita returned but clawed back a try when Hardy bounced through tackles from close range.

However, their hopes of cutting the deficit further were denied by a combination of handling errors and stern Dragons defence.

Ben Carter spent the game knocking back red jerseys while player of the match Taine Basham came up with a crucial turnover on the stroke of half-time as Scarlets edged closer to the line.

Tuipulotu barged over 10 minutes from time to soften the blow on the scoreboard but Hughes burst through with the final play of the game to seal the bonus point and a record winning margin against Scarlets.

Scarlets head coach Dwyane Peel said:

"It was a Poor performance bottom line, we started slowly, very slowly. Obviously at 21 points after 15 minutes we hardly touched the ball.

"I think it was littered with inaccuracy from us. I was a bit disappointed with some of the energy we showed in that first period.

"We're obviously disappointed from that game, I think we need to be better come Monday."

Dragons head coach Dai Flanagan said:

"I'm pleased with the win and something to build on going forward.

"I thought we were outstanding first 25, 30 minutes and we looked like a team desperate to get a win.

"We got scrappy, loose and lost a bit of shape but I thought the in the end the energy and the effort from the group was fantastic to see it home."

Dragons: Jordan Williams; Rio Dyer, Sio Tomkinson, Steff Hughes, Ashton Hewitt; Angus O'Brien, Rhodri Williams (capt); Rhodri Jones, Elliot Dee, Lloyd Fairbrother, Ben Carter, Matthew Screech, George Nott, Taine Basham, Aaron Wainwright.

Replacements: Bradley Roberts, Rob Evans, Chris Coleman, Huw Taylor, Sean Lonsdale, Lewis Jones, Will Reed, Aneurin Owen

Scarlets: Tom Rogers; Steff Evans, Joe Roberts, Johnny Williams, Ryan Conbeer; Sam Costelow, Kieran Hardy; Kemsley Mathias, Ken Owens, Javan Sebastian, Vaea Fifita, Morgan Jones, Iwan Shenton, Josh Macleod (capt), Carwyn Tuipulotu.

Replacements: Daf Hughes, Wyn Jones, Sam Wainwright, Iestyn Rees, Shaun Evans, Gareth Davies, Dan Jones, Johnny McNicholl

Referee: Jaco Peyper (SARU)

Assistant referees: Adam Jones & Elgan Williams (WRU)

TMO: Brian MacNeice (IRFU)