A youthful Scarlets side put in a battling display before going down to a 47-26 defeat to Saracens at the StoneX Stadium on Friday night.

The visiting squad contained a number of under-20s talents and players permitted from the region’s Premiership clubs and they gave a good account of themselves on a freezing night in North London.

Prop Steff Thomas, No. 8 Carwyn Tuipulotu, flanker Iwan Shenton and skipper Dan Jones crossed for the Scarlets tries, while the centre pairing of 18-year-old Macs Page and 20-year-old Eddie James gave a glimpse of their exciting potential. 

Hookers Joe Rees and Isaac Young had eye-catching moments, as did scrum-half Harri Williams, who was a livewire throughout the first half.

Defensive lapses at crucial moments did prove costly, but the Scarlets coaching team will have taken a lot, not just from the contest, but the week as a whole.

Before the match, both sides paid tribute to Scarlets great Andy Hill, who passed away this week.

It was Saracens who were up and running quickly, crossing for the opening try through flanker Max Eke in the third minute.

Scarlets, though, hit back impressively.

A pin-point kick to the corner from fly-half Dan Jones set up a prime attacking position and from the maul, prop Steff Thomas peeled away to drive over for his first Scarlets try. Jones landed the touchline conversion to level matters.

The visitors were playing with plenty of enterprise and were rewarded with a second try on 13 minutes. This time it was No. 8 Carwyn Tuipulotu who showed the power to drive himself through the Saracens rearguard and over the whitewash.

The home side then took a grip on the game with three tries inside seven minutes.

Outstanding No. 8 Toby Knight, last season’s England U20s captain, burst through the middle and showed good pace and strength to make the line, wing Ben Harries gathered a cross-field kick, then Welshman Ethan Lewis was sent over unopposed for the fourth.

Ben Williams was held up over the line after a superb stepping break and offload from James put scrum-half Harri Williams into space, but the Scarlets were unable to make any further dent on the scoreboard before the break. 

At the start of the second half, Saracens centre Dom Morris was yellow carded for a high hit on Harri Doel, but it didn’t disrupt the home momentum. Flanker Nathan Mitchelow stepped through for a fifth on 52 minutes, then hooker Lewis claimed a second from a line-out rumble.

But the young Scarlets continued to scrap.

After persistent infringements inside their own 22, Sarries found themselves down to 14 men and Scarlets forced their way over for a third try with Shenton, who put in a big shift all evening,  getting the score from close range.

A fourth came on 69 minutes with more pressure leading to Dan Jones finding the gap to cross at the posts with the skipper converting his own score.

But it was Saracens who had the final word with a stoppage-time converted try from replacement Brandon Jackson.