A late penalty from Dan Jones saw Scarlets claim a draw with Leinster in their refixed Guinness Pro14 clash at Parc Y Scarlets.
The result means Leinster remain at the top of Conference B but of more concern for coach Leo Cullen will be the injury suffered by Sean O'Brien, who was playing in his first match since December after overcoming a hip injury.
Scarlets were trailing 10-7 and just as the clock went red referee Nigel Owens awarded the home side the key penalty.
From 28 metres Jones put the kick through the posts. The draw keeps Scarlets three points behind Leinster in the table
After a scoreless first half, Leinster thought they had done enough after the break with a try for hooker Ed Byrne and five points from the boot of fly-half Ross Byrne.
Full-time stats from a tight game in Wales. #SCAvLEI
— Leinster Rugby (@leinsterrugby) March 9, 2018
A draw keeps us three points ahead at the top of #GUINNESSPRO14 Conference B with four games to go. pic.twitter.com/Ka0ovQuFuD
The Scarlets scored with a try for centre Paul Asquith converted by Jones.
In the rain and wind, Scarlets were on the defensive from the opening whistle. Full-back Dave Kearney ran back a poor clearance from Jonathan Evans and Leinster set up camp in the home 22.
It needed a brilliant turnover from man of the match Tadhg Beirne, who is Munster-bound at the end of the season, to help the Scarlets clear their lines but they continued to struggle to get out of their half.
Scarlets did well to keep a clean sheet in the first quarter helped that hooker Bryan Byrne knocked on just as Leinster had a sniff of the try line.
Leinster suffered a blow when captain O'Brien, in his first game since December, had to leave the field on 27 minutes with an arm injury.
And two minutes later Scarlets looked like they had made the most of their first visit to the Leinster 22 with Tom Williams stepping inside from the right to go over, but TMO Neil Hennessey stepped in to disallow it for a loss of control in the act of grounding.
In the end the first half ended scoreless, but it took only four minutes of the second to break the deadlock with hooker Byrne getting over after the Irish team had made the most of a scrum inside the Scarlets 22.
And it's @leinsterrugby who make the breakthrough through @edbyrne11 in the second half! Byrne sneaking over to give the visitors the lead from close range! 💪
— PRO14 RUGBY (@PRO14Official) March 9, 2018
See all the action now on @SkySports 📺🏉#SCAvLEI#GUINNESSPRO14 pic.twitter.com/26CXL1bkLk
Ross Byrne converted.
The Scarlets responded positively and went through 19 phases inside the Leinster 22 until scrum-half Jonathan Evans knocked on.
But Scarlets came again with a driving maul. Beirne broke away before Asquith finished well. Evans converted to level the scores at 7-7 on 66 minutes.
Leinster's loss of the lead only lasted six minutes however as Ross Byrne put over a penalty kick after Scarlets were caught off their feet at a ruck.
Leinster thought they had extended their lead on 75 minutes but Nick McCarthy's try, following a charge down, was ruled out by the TMO for offside.
If that was not dramatic enough a try was ruled out for Scarlets' new signing wing Tom Varndell before Jones' penalty right at the death.
🏉 #SCAvLEI @SeanOBrien1987 is back to captain @leinsterrugby in this re-arranged fixture against @scarlets_rugby. A possible Guinness PRO14 debut for @Tom_Varndell.
— PRO14 RUGBY (@PRO14Official) March 9, 2018
1️⃣5️⃣s ⬇️#GUINNESSPRO14 pic.twitter.com/pwhFQsjnDM
