Fullback Morgan Stoddart was one of the Scarlets' tryscorers in front of a bumper crowd at Parc y Scarlets © Getty Images

Related Links

Tournaments/Tours Magners League | Magners League

Teams Barbarians | Scarlets | Wales

The Scarlets celebrated the official opening of their new stadium Parc y Scarlets with a resounding 40-24 victory over the Barbarians.

A crowd of 14,497, the biggest the ground has held so far, saw the Scarlets run in six tries in a game more of free-running exhibition than hard-nosed rugby. But from 40-5, the Baa-Baas did mount something of a late recovery to score three unanswered tries.

Before the special match, the teams were introduced to Wales' First Minister Rhodri Morgan - who officially opened the new stadium. The Barbarians contained 11 internationals but could not prevent the Scarlets opening the scoring after only three minutes.

The Welsh region looked as if they had been caught on the back foot after a scrum in their own 22 but launched a counter-attack, which saw wing Matthew Jacob score after latching on to Jon Davies' kick ahead. The Baa-Baas seemed certain to cancel out the opening score when Ben Blair raced up the left touchline, only for Federico Pucciariello to knock on in the Scarlets' 22.

On 20 minutes, Davies turned provider to scorer for the Scarlets' second try. Fellow centre Gavin Evans put Davies free, and he rounded Barbarians' full-back Blair to give the region a 14-0 lead. That became 21-0 on six minutes later when man of the match Morgan Stoddart sprinted in unopposed from 20 metres out after a pass from Davies.

The home side deserved their advantage, because they kept the ball alive with a series of purposeful passes out of the tackle. In contrast, the Barbarians failed to put any meaningful phases together. But they finally crossed in the 38th minute when wing Brian Carney squeezed over in the right corner.

But the Baa-Baas comeback was short-lived as Stoddart ran in his second try in first-half injury time. He returned a kick from 65 metres out and ran in unopposed to give the Scarlets a 26-5 interval lead. It took the Scarlets just six minutes of the second half to cross for their fifth try - scrum-half Martin Roberts finishing off good work by Davies and replacement prop Phil John.

The Scarlets continued to dominate and were rewarded with a sixth try when centre Gavin Evans went in under the posts.

Although it was largely turning into a one-sided contest, the Barbarians hit back with three tries in the space of nine minutes in the final quarter. Cardiff Blues' Blair crossed following a run down the left and was followed across the line by replacement centre Jeremy Staunton and replacement wing Tomas de Vedia.

After the match, Morgan presented Scarlets captain Simon Easterby with the Carwyn James Memorial Trophy.

Scarlets coach Nigel Davies has urged his team to make Parc y Scarlets a fortress after the game. "We want to make this place very difficult for teams to come here and regardless who it is we want to win games," said Davies. "The big thing for us was that our boys stepped up individually and put in a big performance.

"There were a lot of young boys out there and it all augurs well for the future. I think when we do get a fully fit squad there is going to be a lot of competition. It's going to raise the bar within the group and it's going to be very, very positive. In front of a near-capacity crowd, which was brilliant, we turned up and put on a show."

Barbarians coach Eddie O'Sullivan believes the Baa-Baas brand still has a place in the rugby calendar. "In some ways professional rugby these days is about winning at all costs and sometimes the entertainment value has dropped because of the need to win," he said.

"But Barbarians rugby is more about playing the game and expressing ourselves. We didn't win today but you can't fault them for trying hard. It was a very lively game and I think we got caught with the pace of the game early on. There were a few of our guys who haven't played for a while and I think they got a bit of a wake-up call in the first 20 minutes.

"We have only been together since yesterday and the Scarlets were much more cohesive. They had a better structure. But we knew we would probably have to play our way into the game and once we got a bit of shape into our game we came back into it."

Scarlets: Tries: Jacob 2, Davies 19, Stoddart 25, 40, Roberts 47, Evans 58 Conversions: Thomas (5)

Barbarians: Tries: Carney 39, Blair 61, Staunton 66, De Vedia 70 Conversions: Blair (2)

Scarlets: M Stoddart; D Daniel, J Davies, G Evans (D Evans 62), M Jacobs; C Thomas (S Martens 71), M Roberts (G Cattle 58); I Thomas, M Schwalger (K Owens 45), D Manu (P John 45), L Reed (V Cooper 63), D Day, J Turnbull, S Easterby (capt. R McCusker 58), D Lyons

Barbarians: B Blair; B Carney (T De Vedia 58), J Robinson (J Staunton 40), M Gooden, T Voyce; G Ross, M Petri (M Robinson 40); F Puciarello, A Oliver (capt. M Regan 48), J Dawson (B Evans 48), D Jones, D Vickerman (G Quinnell 58), A Persico, S Tandy (C Charvis 48), M Molitika

Referee: N Owens (WRU)

Attendance: 14,497