Scarlets 16 – 18 Ulster Rugby
Ruan Pienaar banged over a penalty from inside his own half with the last kick of the match to deliver the Scarlets a crushing blow at Parc y Scarlets in a Magners League clash the home side should never have lost.
The home side were left shell shocked after leading for most of the game but as the home fans were waiting for the final whistle, Scarlets No8 Ben Morgan was penalised for not binding. Pienaar, who never looked like missing all night, stepped up and knocked over his sixth penalty from 51 metres to leave the Scarlets with just a losing bonus point.
The Scarlets had led the match since a 22nd-minute penalty try and were indebted to 11 points from the boot of Rhys Priestland who had been released to play by the Wales camp.
Ulster opened up a 6-0 lead with two penalty goals for scrum-half Pienaar, but Priestland edged the Scarlets back in to the contest with successful penalties in the 12th and 15th minutes.
The Scarlets then dominated the game with Priestland using the poor weather conditions to the home side’s advantage, pegging Ulster back with some deadly kicking. The Scarlets were superior in the scrum and made their dominance pay when the pack destroyed the Ulster eight close to the try-line to earn a penalty try.
Pienaar slotted a third penalty but two minutes from half-time the Scarlets restored their seven-point lead with a sweetly-struck drop-goal from Priestland.
With the rain hammering down, the second half was not a pretty affair and was littered with mistakes but, with the wind, Ulster had the upper hand and got to within a point of the Scarlets with Pienaar penalties on 48 and 60 minutes.
The Scarlets must have thought they had done enough to seal the points, which would have taken them up to second in the table, until No.8 Ben Morgan slipped his binding at a scrum to allow Pienaar to win it.
