Scarlets kept alive their slim hopes of a Pro14 semi-final place with an emphatic bonus-point win over Dragons.

Munster need two league points against Connacht on Sunday to clinch their place in next Friday’s semi-final against Leinster in Dublin.

It was a first victory for the Scarlets at Rodney Parade since 2011.

Scarlets’ tries came from Samson Lee, Steff Evans, James Davies, Johnny McNicholl, Tom Rogers and Dane Blacker, while man-of-the-match Dan Jones added 11 points.

Jared Rosser, Taine Basham and Adam Warren responded for Dragons, playing their part in an entertaining match.

It was a second successive bonus-point win for Scarlets, as they finished the regular 2019-20 season in fine form ahead of their Challenge Cup quarter-final against Toulon in mid-September.

Whether they have a Pro14 semi-final game before the trip to France will depend on whether Munster defeat Connacht in Dublin on Sunday or pick up two losing bonus points.

The victory marked a special day for Wales hooker Owens, who celebrated his memorable milestone after making his regional debut in August 2006.

Owens was one of six changes with full-back Angus O’Brien, scrum-half Kieran Hardy, second-row Jake Ball and back-rowers Sione Kalamafoni and James Davies coming in.

Tongan international Kalamafoni made his Scarlets debut after arriving from Leicester, while flanker Davies recorded his first start since playing for Wales against New Zealand in the World Cup in November 2019.

Dragons and Wales back-rower Aaron Wainwright reached his own milestone to play his 50th game for the region as he started as one of 10 changes in the home side.

Wales centre Nick Tompkins was at the heart of the Dragons attack alongside Sam Davies in the opening exchanges and helped set up the attacking platform which saw the fly-half open the scoring with a penalty.

Scarlets responded with a rare try from Wales prop Lee, only his second score in 148 appearances for the region, before Rosser responded with a finely crafted try.

The visitors restored their advantage with a well-worked effort from Steff Evans to follow up the Scarlets wing’s double against Cardiff Blues last weekend, before James Davies burrowed over on his return.

Davies’ opposite number Basham scored in similar fashion just before the interval as Scarlets led 19-15 at half-time.

Scarlets’ first-half scrummaging superiority with a Wales front-row of Owens, Lee and Wyn Jones prompted a half-time change, with Dragons tight-head prop Leon Brown coming on.

It made little initial difference as the Scarlets forward power saw Dragons back-rower Harrison Keddie yellow-carded for a professional foul.

The visitors almost capitalised on the numerical advantage with Kalamafoni thinking he had dived over for a debut try, before it was ruled out by referee Craig Evans following consultation with the television match official Ian Davies.

Dragons conceded no points while down to 14 men but Scarlets gained the bonus-point try with a well-worked scored for McNicholl, with the Wales wing latching onto a clever grubber kick from Dan Jones who also converted.

The home side appeared to have retaliated with a runaway Rosser try but was controversially ruled out with Basham deemed to be offside at a ruck after referee Evans looked at the incident with the television match official.

It was a key decision because Jones kicked the penalty and what could have been a four-point deficit became a 14-point advantage to Scarlets.

Replacements Rogers and Blacker added late scores, with Owens ending the game as an emergency prop before Warren added a late Dragons consolation.

Scarlets head coach Glenn Delaney: “It was a really tough game, we know they are a team that want to play with width and we learned a lot during today and applied it.

“Now we’ve put ourselves in a position where we can get to the semi-final. I was really pleased for Ken, he is a hell of a guy and and this is a special moment for him.”

Dragons director of rugby Dean Ryan: “The TMO decision was a big swing but I don’t think that it changed the outcome.

“I am not sitting here saying that because we probably had too much damage done to us by the time we went into the last 20 minutes to warrant anything.

“I was pleased that they were in it up to 50 minutes because we had eight under-23s. That we got dusted in the scrum and drive wasn’t a surprise because we wanted people to experience that.”

Dragons: Will Talbot-Davies; Jared Rosser, Adam Warren, Nick Tompkins, Ashton Hewitt; Sam Davies, Rhodri Williams (capt); Josh Reynolds, Elliot Dee, Chris Coleman, Max Williams, Matthew Screech, Aaron Wainwright, Taine Basham, Harrison Keddie.

Replacements: Ellis Shipp, Conor Maguire, Leon Brown, Joe Maksymiw, Huw Taylor, Luke Baldwin, Arwel Robson, Jack Dixon.

Scarlets: Angus O’Brien; Johnny McNicholl, Steff Hughes, Johnny Williams, Steff Evans; Dan Jones, Kieran Hardy; Wyn Jones, Ken Owens (capt), Samson Lee, Jake Ball, Lewis Rawlins, Ed Kennedy, James Davies, Sione Kalamafoni.

Replacements: Ryan Elias, Phil Price, Javan Sebastian, Josh Helps, Josh Macleod, Dane Blacker, Paul Asquith, Tom Rogers.

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