Mee scores at death as Scarlets beat Ulster

United Rugby Championship

Scarlets (17) 27

Tries: Murray, Macleod, Lee Cons: Costelow 3 Pens: Costelow 2

Ulster (12) 22

Tries: Stewart, Ward, Irvine, Wilson Cons: Doak 2

Ellis Mee scored an 83rd minute try to secure a long-awaited Scarlets victory over Ulster and lift his side off the foot of the United Rugby Championship (URC) table.

Scarlets had not beaten the Irish province since November 2018, but a Blair Murray try got them off to a perfect start in Llanelli.

Ulster hit back with scores from Tom Stewart and Bryn Ward, before Josh Macleod put the hosts back ahead.

It was all Ulster after the break, with Scott Wilson finally finding a way through a dogged defence.

A late Sam Costelow penalty looked to have nicked it for Scarlets, only for his effort to be cancelled out by Nathan Doak a minute later.

And while Ulster looked to be heading to a ninth straight victory over the west Walians, Mee broke free in the final play to run in a spectacular 50-metre try.

It was a much-needed third win of the season for Scarlets, who leapfrog Zebre to 15th in the table, while Ulster remain fourth.

Half centurion Eddie James’ crunching tackle on Ulster full-back Mike Lowry in the opening minute showed Scarlets’ early intent.

They claimed a try on their first meaningful attack, with the driving maul sucking in the defenders to open a gap for Murray to canter in.

Ulster hit back on 20 minutes, their drive looking equally dangerous with Stewart managing to peel away to score.

Their second was almost a carbon copy, Scarlets again doing well to stop the initial shunt, with Ward this time the player to wriggle free.

Doak converted to give Ulster the lead, before Scarlets put themselves back ahead before the break.

A tap penalty saw the forwards drive at the Ulster defence, with the skipper Macleod the one to bundle over.

It was all Ulster in the second half, with Scarlets struggling to exit.

Jake Flannery and David McCann both had tries chalked off, while Scarlets had to deal with the loss of the lively Murray, whose injury will no doubt be a concern for Wales boss Steve Tandy ahead of the Six Nations.

Scarlets’ task became even tougher when Taine Plumtree was shown a yellow card, his fifth of the season, for an accumulation of penalties.

This finally paved a gap for Wilson to go over 10 minutes from time, and while Ulster looked to be heading for the win, there were to be some final twists.

Costelow might have been the hero when he kicked a 40-metre penalty into the stiff Llanelli wind, but the lead was gifted straight back when Doak was on target from the tee after Mee conceded the penalty.

Trailing by two points and with the clock in the red, Johnny Williams’ break sent the crowd wild, and while the chance looked to have gone begging, play was brought back for a high tackle, for which Werner Kok was given a yellow card.

In the final attack, Costelow sent a sweeping pass out to Mee, who evaded the last tackler before racing to and diving over the line in a breathless finish.

Scarlets: Murray; Rogers, James, Hawkins, Mee; Costelow, A Hughes; Mathias, Elias, Holz, Lousi, Cuckson, Plumtree, Macleod (capt), Anderson.

Replacements: Van der Merwe, Morse, H O’Connor, Price, J Taylor, Blacker, J Williams, Page.

Ulster: Lowry; Baloucoune, Hume, McCloskey, Kok; Murphy, Doak; Bell, Stewart, O’Toole, Henderson (capt), Irvine, McCann, Timoney, Ward.

Replacements: Herring, O’Sullivan, Wilson, Sheridan, Dalton, McKee, Flannery, Postlethwaite.

Officials

Referee: Griffin Colby (South Africa)

Assistants: Ben Whitehouse (Wales), Carwyn Sion (Wales)

TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Sin bin: Plumtree, Kok