Having opened their defence with successive wins over the Ospreys and RGC they were then beaten by the Dragons at home and the Blues away. It was the first time a Blues side had beaten the Scarlets since January, 2017.
The Dragons went to Parc y Scarlets and pulled off a 17-5 victory in a ferocious match that saw two players sent-off and another yellow carded. In between, the Dragons outscored their hosts by three tries to one.
Scrum half Dylan Davies opened the scoring with the first try and Ben Torjesen and Oli Howard followed him over the Scarlets try line. Will Reed converted one of them to complete the scoring.
All the points came in the second half, with the Dragons having to play for 30 minutes with a man short after lock Joe Peard was dismissed for punching after 16 minutes He was followed to the touchline by Scarlets flanker Caine Rees-Jones, who saw red for a stamp in the 47th minute.
Home wing Harrison Button levelled the scores on 50 minutes, but then came a late two-try salvo from the Dragons to seal the win. The Scarlets went down to 13 men for 10 minutes when Ryan Evans was given a yellow card for not retreating 10 metres at a penalty.
At the Arms Park four days late, the Blues got off to a flying start with tries from wing Dafydd Thomas and giant lock Christ Tshiunza to earn them a 12 point lead. Wing Liam Cox replied for the visitors, but penalties either side of the interval from Blues centre Ioan Evans put the home side firmly in the driving seat.
But then came the fightback from the champions, led by skipper and No 8 Sam Williams. He crossed for two tries, Harri Jones got another and Bradley Roderick’s conversion made it 22-18 with 18 minutes to go.
It was a test of character for the Blues and they proved up to it as they responded with a second try for Thomas and another for fellow wing Theo Cabango. Josh Phillips converted them both and added a penalty to make victory complete.
The Dragons are now the only unbeaten side left in the tournament and will get the chance to enhance their position at the top of the table when they close the first half of the competition at home against RGC on Sunday.
The Ospreys picked up their second win of the season with a 34-19 victory over the north Walians at the weekend. That followed up a 31-27 triumph over the Blues at the Arms Park four days earlier.
There were five tries in Colwyn Bay – Logan Phillips, Harri Deaves, Declan Thomas, Bradley Roderick and Iestyn Hopkins – and Joe Hawkins added nine points with the boot. It was Hawkins who had put the boot into the Blues a few days earlier, kicking a vital 16 points in the victory in the Welsh capital.
The home side managed to score four tries, but Hawkins’ reliable kicking, added to tries from Tristan James, Rhys Thomas and Logan Phillips, saw the visitors through to their first win of the season.
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Regional Age Grade Under 18 Tournament – Results to Date
Wednesday, 22 August
Blues 15 – 28 Dragons
Ospreys 5 – 53 Scarlets
Wednesday, 29 August
Dragons 52 – 26 Ospreys
Sunday, 2 September
Scarlets 59 – 0 RGC 1404
Wednesday, 5 September
Blues 27 – 31 Ospreys
Scarlets 5 – 17 Dragons
Sunday, 9 September
Blues 35 – 22 Scarlets
RGC 1404 17 – 34 Ospreys Â
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. . . STILL TO COME
Sunday, 16 September
Dragons v RGC 1404
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