Cardiff power past Scarlets with three-maul derby win in Llanelli
Cardiff beat Scarlets 21-15 in Llanelli on Saturday to win the first Welsh derby of the new United Rugby Championship season.
The Round One clash at Parc y Scarlets kicked off at 19:45 BST in front of 7,073 supporters, and the visitors held on after leading 14-12 at half-time, BBC Sport reported.
Cardiff scored three tries through Dan Thomas, Taine Basham and Evan Lloyd. Scarlets replied with tries from Joe Roberts and Blair Murray, plus a second-half penalty from Joe Hawkins. Jarrod Evans added the conversion to Lloyd's try for Cardiff.
All three Cardiff scores came the same way. From an attacking lineout, where one player throws the ball back in from touch, Cardiff formed a driving maul and powered over. A maul is when ball-carrier and team-mates bind together on their feet and drive forward. It is hard to stop legally once it builds momentum. Cardiff built it three times. Scarlets could not stop it three times.
Basham was named player of the match after his try and a busy night in defence and at the breakdown, the contest for the ball on the ground after a tackle.
There was a milestone for the home side. Hooker Ryan Elias led Scarlets out as vice-captain on his 200th appearance for the club.
The result keeps an odd derby pattern going. The last four Cardiff-Scarlets meetings before this one had all been won by the travelling team, Cardiff Rugby noted in April. Llanelli made it five in a row.
Recent form pointed the same way. Cardiff finished sixth last season and were the only Welsh side to reach the URC play-offs. Scarlets ended 14th in 2025-26, with only Dragons and Zebre below them, and closed that campaign without a win in their final five league matches.
What makes this stand out is the method. Cardiff did not outrun Scarlets. They squeezed them. Three lineouts deep in the Scarlets 22, three catches, three drives, three tries. For fans, that means set-piece accuracy, not flashy backs moves, decided a noisy derby.
Cardiff now head home to face Zebre at Cardiff Arms Park on 2 October, listed for a 19:45 BST kick-off, Cardiff Rugby states. Scarlets will look to regroup quickly before their own derby trip to Dragons at Rodney Parade.
