Munster produced a dominant performance at Thomond Park, starving the Scarlets of possession and territory, to emerge 29-8 winners in the battle of two United Rugby Championship play-off rivals.
For Dwayne Peel’s side, it was a backs-to-the-wall effort for most of the game, with the West Walians unable to prise themselves away from the firm grip of the Munstermen.
Munster enjoyed an incredible 75 per cent of the ball, with 84 per cent of the game spent in the Scarlets half.
The visitors’ ill-discipline and handling errors didn’t help their cause and they were often left to rely on another stubborn rearguard to hold out against relentless Munster pressure.
A brilliant solo score from replacement Macs Page was the attacking highlight, but this was a tough night for the Scarlets.
Ioan Lloyd was wide with a third-minute penalty following a turnover penalty by Dan Davis, and then Munster thought they had scored through Ireland squad member Tom Ahern, only for the try to be chalked off for a knock-on.
Camped in their own territory for much of the half, the Scarlets had to rely on a resilient defensive effort, particularly after centre Joe Roberts was shown yellow for a deliberate knock-on.
Lloyd made no mistake with a penalty to get the scoreboard shifting in 18 minutes, but eventually, Munster’s pressure game paid with the opening try.
A slick training move off an attacking line-out opened up the Scarlets defence and it was replacement wing Shay McCarthy who finished off. Fly-half Billy Burns converted.
Enjoying all the ball, Munster continued to press, but the West Walians managed to keep the home side out to go in at half-time just four points adrift.
The same narrative continued after the break, poor Scarlets discipline and Munster pressure and the home side were over for their second try just four minutes after the restart thanks to a trademark close-range effort from player of the match, No. 8 Gavin Coombes.
Waves after wave of Munster attack led to a third try on 51 minutes through flanker Alex Kendellen, with Burns’s touchline conversion making it 19-3.
There was something for the travelling Scarlets fans to cheer about when replacement Page produced one of his wonder tries just before the hour mark.
With his first touch of the ball, the youngster, playing on the right wing, took a superb off-load from Ellis Mee 60 metres out, swerved outside his defender, raced clear, chipped the full-back before gathering the bouncing ball and touching down.
There was an excruciating wait for the TMO and officials to make a call on the grounding, but the referee’s on-field decision stood, as did the try. Lloyd was wide with the extras.
That was as good as it got for the visitors.
Coombes dabbed down for his second, then in the final minute, Munster wing Shane Daly was yellow carded for a high challenge on Roberts. It mattered little to the outcome and it was Munster and Tom Farrell who had the final word, with the centre diving over in the corner to complete the win.
Scorers:
Munster Rugby: Tries: Shay McCarthy, Gavin Coombes (2), Alex Kendellen, Tom Farrell. Conversions: Billy Burns (2).
Scarlets: Try: Macs Page. Penalty: Ioan Lloyd.
Teams:
Munster Rugby: 15 Ben O’Connor, 14 Shane Daly, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Dairmuid Kilgallen, 10 Billy Burns, 9 Ethan Coughlan, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 Alex Kendellen, 6 Jack O’Donoghue (c), 5 Fineen Wycherley, 4 Tom Ahem, 3 Oli Jager, 2 Diarmuid Barron, 1 Josh Wycherley. Replacements: 16 Danny Sheahan, 17 Kieran Ryan, 18 John Ryan, 19 Evan O’Connell, 20 Brian Gleeson, 21 Paddy Patterson, 22 Tony Butler, 23 Shay McCarthy.
Scarlets: 15 Ioan Nicholas, 14 Ellis , 13 Joe Roberts , 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Ioan Lloyd, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Vaea Fifita, 7 Dan Davis, 6 Taine Plumtree, 5 Sam Lousi, 4 Max Douglas, 3 Archer Holz, 2 Marnus van der Merwe, 1 Kemsley Mathias. Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Alex Hepburn, 18 Sam Wainwright 19 Alex Craig, 20 Jarrod Taylor, 21 Archie Hughes, 22 22 Charlie Titcombe, 23 Macs Page.