URC: Scarlets 35 Leinster 22 Leo Cullen does not like losing and certainly is not used to it as the Leinster head coach, but sometimes what does not kill you can only make you stronger. That was the view of Cullen after seeing his side lose for only the second time this season in the United Rugby Championship as they left Parc y Scarlets with nothing after failing to their Welsh hosts for the first time in seven years. Hot on the heels of Munster’s defeat to Cardiff at the Arms Park the night before, the Scarlets pushed themselves into the quarter-final play-off picture with a passion-packed display that had the home fans lifting the roof with their renditions of “Sosban Fach” and even the Welsh national anthem. The home side moved up to seventh in the table ahead of their South African safari where they will meet the Lions and Sharks in their final two outings. Leinster have home clashes with Zebre and their nearest rivals at the top of the table, Glasgow, to come. “It will keep everyone on edge and be a good reminder for us. Watching someone else in the winners enclosure while you are licking your wounds in a quiet dressingroom leads to a bit of soul searching,” said Cullen. “I don’t think it requires a drastic refix, but we need to be conscious of a few little things. There are always a few moving parts at this time of year and you have to stay in the moment, and stay in the here and now. “We knew the Scarlets would be up for the game because they’ve got so much to play for. It wasn’t like things we hadn’t discussed during the week, and I was a bit disappointed with the way our guys didn’t really pitch up. “We felt there is more in this group, but we didn’t quite see that. We will dust ourselves off and get ourselves ready for the different challenges coming up over the next few weeks “It’s not a disaster, but you come back to the performance part. How did we put out a performance like that and concede 35 points?” Leinster never recovered from an error and penalty strewn opening that saw the Scarlets race into a 10 point lead and plunder three first half tries. Veteran scrumhalf Gareth Davies grabbed the first after a midfield bust by man of the match Taine Plumtree and then returning Wales outside half Sam Costelow cross kicked perfectly for Tom Rogers to grab the second. Plumtree then picked off a midfield pass to intercept on half way and race to the posts for the third. Costelow converted two of them and also kicked a penalty. The Leinster response came from an early Ross Byrne penalty and then a try for Jamie Osborne that was made by a charge down by Diarmuid Mangan. Then, on the stoke of half-time, the best move of the match saw Fintan Gunne explode off the base of a scrum on half way and pave the way for Liam Turner to break clear into the Scarlets 22. The centre was held just short, but Mangan was on hand to drive over. Having converted the Osborne try, Byrne was off target with his second attempt, but still the visitors were in touch at 22-15 at half-time. The first score in the second half was always going to be important and it fell to the home side. Wales full back Blair Murray made the break and his international team-mate Joe Roberts rounded things off. Costelow added the extra sand then his replacement Ioan Lloyd rounded things off with two long-range penalties. Scarlets: Tries: G Davies (7 mins), T Rogers (22 mins), T Plumtree (30 mins): Cons: S Costelow (8 mins, 30 mins); Pen: S Costelow (12 mins), I Lloyd (55 mins, 78 mins). Leinster: Tries: J Osborne (24 mins), D Mangan (35 mins), J Culhane (48 mins); Cons: R Byrne (24 mins, 48 mins); Pen: R Byrne (17 mins) Scarlets: B Murray; T Rogers, J Roberts, J Williams, E Mee; S Costelow, G Davies; A Hepburn, R Elias, H Thomas, A Craig, S Lousi, V Fifita, J Macleod (capt), T Plumtree. Replacements: I Lloyd for S Costelow (49 mins), M van der Merwe for R Elias (56 mins), M Page for T Rogers (64 mins), J Price for A Craig (68 mins), A Hughes for G Davies (74 mins), J Taylor for T Plumtree (74 mins), L Trevett for A Hepburn (79 mins). Leinster: C Frawley; A Osborne, L Turner, J Osborne, J O’Brien; R Byrne, F Gunne; C Healy, R Kelleher (capt), T Clarkson, R Baird, B Deeny, A Soroka, W Connors, J Culhane Replacements: D Mangan for B Deeny (14 mins), C Tector for A Osborne (51 mins), J Boyle for C Healy (51 mins), S Penny for R Baird (41-43 mins), S Penny for W Connors (49 mins), G McCarthy for R Kelleher (51 mins), R Slimani for T Clarkson (51 mins), C Foley for F Gunne (64 mins), R Moloney for L Turner (78 mins) Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)