New Scarlets skills coach Mark Jones described their pre-season opener at Gloucester as ‘the perfect work-out’ despite a 26-6 defeat.
Steve Shingler kicked two penalties but a second-string Scarlets side were well beaten by far more experienced opposition.
However, former Wales wing Jones, who took on his new role this month after retirement, believes the Kingsholm experience will only benefit his young team.
“It’s always disappointing to lose, even in a friendly game, but the match was exactly what we needed,” said Jones.
“We’ve been working hard but we needed a match of that intensity to kick start our season.
“We gave a lot of youngsters a run out and I thought they did well against a much more experienced outfit. The half-back partnership worked very well and it sets us up well for the two pre-season games we have got at home.”
The Scarlets face Worcester Warriors on Saturday before their final pre-season fixture against Aviva Premiership newboys Exeter Chiefs on August 27.
“We have got a lot to work on, but we have got a lot of players to come back into the team, so we will go from here and we look forward to next weekend,” added Jones.
