Scarlets will face Leinster in Dublin in the United Rugby Championship (URC) play-off quarter-finals as Cardiff missed out by a point on the final weekend.

Dwayne Peel’s side earnt a vital victory over the Lions at altitude in Pretoria last weekend, putting them in pole position for qualification ahead of Cardiff, Munster, Benetton, and Edinburgh.

With all four of those sides playing before Scarlets, the west Walian side knew what was required of them prior to the match. As it happened, results went their way and they qualified before facing the Sharks in Durban.

Scarlets lost that match 12-3 – with no tries scored in the match – and will therefore have to settle for 8th in the table and a trip to Dublin to face Leinster, who have only lost two matches in the URC all season.

Head coach Peel can take confidence in the fact that Scarlets were one of those two teams to beat Leinster in the league this season, with their 35-22 victory laying down a marker of the progress made under the former Wales scrumhalf.

With the Dublin-based side out of the Champions Cup, one would expect a full strength side would be picked to face Scarlets, with all 15 British and Irish Lions expected to be available.

Despite the odds stacked against them, Scarlets have an almost full-strength squad to choose from and will be looking to replicate the heroics of their great team of the late 2010s that routinely beat Leinster in Dublin, including in the Pro12 semi-final in 2017.

The other Welsh side in contention for the play-offs going into the final day was Cardiff, who narrowly missed out by a point.

Facing the Bulls and the Stormers – the better of the four South African sides – Cardiff were up against it going into the final two weekends of the season. Attempting to pick up as many losing and try scoring bonus points as possible, Matt Sherratt’s side fell short against the Bulls, leaving them behind the eight ball.

At the Stormers – the best attacking team in the URC this season – Cardiff played their attacking brand of rugby as though on turbo charge. They scored tries through Danny Southworth, Gabe Hamer-Webb, and Harri Millard, before Dafydd Hughes’ 76th minute try looked to have sealed two points and a spot in the play-offs.

Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu – perhaps the best young player in the world right now – broke blue and black hearts with a late penalty, putting his side 10 points ahead in the match.

Cardiff can take heart in the knowledge that they have improved vastly this season and were well worthy of a spot in the play-offs. Had Ulster put up more of a fight against a listing Edinburgh outfit, Sherratt’s side would have made it in.

For the other two Welsh regions – Ospreys and Dragons – they were out of the reckoning before the final weekend.

Ospreys’ 29-28 defeat to the Lions told the story of much of their season – conceding an early lead, coming back in some style, before throwing it away at the death.

For the Dragons, shorn of 22 players through injury, their 55-15 defeat to the Bulls was a disappointing end to a dismal season. With one win in the league and equalling Zebra’s record for the lowest points total in URC history, the Newport-based region has a lot of catching up to do over the summer.

They have started to recruit well and Filo Tiatia is putting his trust into the young, talent core that Dragons have. Hopefully this strategy can bare fruit soon.

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