Scarlets nilled in league for first time in 18 years

Stormers fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu scored 12 points and was shown a yellow card

United Rugby Championship

Scarlets (0) 0

Stormers (17) 34

Tries: Roos, de Villiers, van Heerden, Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Khan Cons: Feinberg-Mngomezulu 2, Willemse Pen: Feinberg-Mngomezulu

Scarlets were nilled in a league game for the first time in more than 18 years as Stormers maintained their perfect start to the United Rugby Championship (URC).

Evan Roos and Paul de Villiers crossed in a one-sided first half, with the sluggish hosts fortunate to only trail 17-0.

Scarlets toiled after the break, but could do little to prevent Ruben van Heerden, Imad Khan and man of the moment Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu completing a five-try rout.

It was another hugely disappointing home performance from Scarlets - while their injury list continues to grow - in front of new Wales boss Steve Tandy.

Stormers, meanwhile, made it three wins from three to move top of the table.

Not since they were beaten 20-0 by Munster in Limerick back in April 2007 had Scarlets failed to register on the scoreboard in a league fixture.

Despite an all international front row, there was early concern at scrum time for Scarlets, with the injured Jake Ball and Sam Lousi big misses in the second-row.

Stormers were equally dominant in the maul, with Roos benefitting from a 10-metre rumble to cross for the opening try - his fourth in two games.

Springbok superstar Feinberg-Mngomezulu let Scarlets off the hook with some early misses but the power of the pack proved decisive even when flanker Ben-Jason Dixon was shown a yellow card.

Number eight Taine Plumtree soon followed Dixon to the sin bin for some reckless retaliation and Scarlets' seven-man pack could do little to stop de Villiers crashing over from close range.

A raft of changes saw Scarlets slightly improve in the second half, with skipper Johnny Williams leading the charge with some powerful runs through the midfield .

Ellis Mee will also caught the eye of Tandy who was among the 6,114 Llanelli crowd.

Feinberg-Mngomezulu was shown a yellow card for an infringement at the ruck in a niggly encounter but still Stormers dominated.

Van Heerden crossed just before the hour mark before the returning Feinberg-Mngomezulu scooped up a loose ball to score in the corner for a bonus point.

Things went from bad to worse when Macs Page was shown a yellow card for a deliberate knock-when Stormers threatened a fifth try, and that eventually came from replacement Khan five minutes from time.

It was another sobering night in Llanelli for Peel's side after their opening round loss to Munster before heading to South Africa for back-to-back games.

Scarlets head coach Dwayne Peel said: "It was very difficult, I thought the Stormers were excellent, their set-piece work was exceptional and as good as I've seen.

"Their maul and scrum were very good and put us under a lot of pressure.

"There are facets of the game where we need to get better because that's the standard we need to chase.

"They (Stormers) are setting the standard in the league at the minute with wins over Leinster and Ospreys, and now us."

Line-ups

Scarlets: Murray; Rogers, J Roberts, J Williams (capt), Mee; Hawkins, G Davies; Hepburn, Van der Merwe, H Thomas, T Davies, Douglas, Taylor, Davis, Plumtree.

Replacements: Myhill, S O'Connor, Holz, Cummins, B Williams, Blacker, Costelow, Page.

Sin bin: Plumtree (33), Page (72)

Stormers: D Willemse; Senatla, Simelane, R Nel (capt), Zas; Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Ungerer; Vermaak, Kotze, Sandi, Schickerling, R van Heerden, P de Villiers, Dixon, Roos.

Replacements: A-H Venter, Matongo, Porthen, Evans, Theunissen, Fourie, Khan, Matthee.

Sin bin: Dixon (29), Feinberg-Mngomezulu (53)

Referee: Federico Vedovelli (FIR)

Assistant referees: Ben Connor, Carwyn Sion (WRU)

TMO: Stefano Penne (FIR)