Five-try Scarlets sink Connacht as Ian Madigan’s boot sees off Aironi

After beating Treviso 34-20 at the same ground a week ago, the Scarlets crossed for five tries with Stephen Jones kicking 13 points.

The Scarlets included Wales squad members Aaron Shingler, Liam Williams, Rhodri Jones, Stephen Jones and Lou Reed in their starting line-up, but struggled to get a decent foothold in Connacht territory after some early handling errors.

It took them until the 17th minute to get on the scoreboard.

The first time the Scarlets put some phases together they won a penalty but instead of going for the posts Jones kicked for territory in the pursuit of more points.

And from another penalty five metres out, Scarlets chose a scrum, won a free kick and captain Gareth Maule put Andy Fenby over in the left corner. Jones added the extras to leave the home side 7-0 ahead.

However, hands in a ruck in their own 22 saw the Scarlets’ lead reduced with a 24th-minute penalty for Connacht outside-half Miah Nikora.

It took the Scarlets time to make another big attack count but after 37 minutes prop Rhodri Jones crashed through a ruck to score from close range after some impressive build-up work to help give the home side a 14-3 interval advantage.

The Scarlets scrum showed its dominance by earning Stephen Jones a penalty on 46 minutes which he kicked to extend the home lead to 14 points.

And after Connacht forward John Muldoon was sin-binned just three minutes after entering the fray the Scarlets scored their third converted try when hooker Emyr Phillips squeezed in by the posts.

From 24-3 up it took the Scarlets just another six minutes to seal the bonus point try when they turned over ball and No 8 Kieran Murphy sprinted over.

With Peter Edwards in the bin Connacht went over for a try through replacement hooker Ethienne Reynecke but it was too little too late for the Irish outfit.

There was a final flourish for the home side when prop Phil John grabbed the fifth try in injury time, with Jones again successful from the conversion as the Wales ace finished with a 100 per cent record with the boot.

Meanwhile, Ian Madigan kicked 17 points to guide runaway RaboDirect PRO12 leaders Leinster to a 22-6 victory over bottom side Aironi at the Stadio Zaffanella in Viadana.

Madigan, 22, slotted over five penalties to keep his side just ahead of Aironi before the fly-half wrapped up the scoring five minutes from time after successful converting Noel Reid’s interception try.

Aironi, having trailed 9-0 at half-time, got back to within three points by the 60-minute mark thanks to second-half penalties from Naas Oliver and Luciano Orquer, but they could not get any closer as Leinster took the spoils.

The victory helped Leinster stay well clear of second-placed Ospreys at the top of the table and also saw the 2011 Heineken Cup champions equal Munster’s tournament record of 14 games unbeaten, which was set last year.

Aironi, meanwhile, continue to prop up the standings having picked up just three wins in their 16 games.