Sale Sharks had already secured top spot in Pool 2 before Tigers kicked off in Llanelli and, although Richard Cockerill praised the effort and attitiude of the team, he identified a high penalty count as a disappointing factor in defeat.
“It was a reasonably good first half from both sides, especially with not much riding on the game in terms of the competition,” said Tigers director of rugby Cockerill.
“But our discipline was poor. They kicked 20-odd points from penalties and that is disappointing.
“We scored three tries in the first half but led by just four points because every time we got back in our half we seemed to give away a penalty and they took their kicks.
“Credit to Scarlets as well, they played well and deserved their win, though the scoreline looks a bit one-sided in the end.”
Tigers did take some positives from the match ahead of the reurn to Aviva Premiership action next weekend, with game-time for senior men including Dan Bowden, Scott Hamilton and Thomas Waldrom, and valuable experience for some of the younger members of the squad.
“We learned something about some of the players and that is important,” he said.
“There was some real character in the team and I thought Brett Deacon was outstanding for us as player and captain. Richard Thrope was good again, Harry Wells battled his way through manfully and some of the young lads have played and seen what it’s like. Those young guys put in maximum effort.
“All the young guys applied themselves physically and the attitude was really good.”
Tigers gave a first start to Harry Wells and a senior debut to second-row Matt Hubbart as a late replacement just a week after he played an important part in the Under-18 side’s win over Gloucester in the National Academy League at Welford Road.
