Opposition view: A lot for Scarlets boss to like about showing at Saints
Scarlets interim director of rugby Nigel Davies saw a lot of positives in his side's spirited showing at Saints on Sunday.
The black, green and gold were pushed all the way by Davies' side, who closed the gap to five points late on before Saints pulled away to seal a 43-28 success.
It meant Scarlets, who are currently bottom of the United Rugby Championship, suffered their four defeat in as many Investec Champions Cup pool-stage matches.
But Davies was upbeat after the defeat.
“Coming in, I haven’t done a huge amount," Davies said. "We have simplified things and we have looked at our DNA as a team.
"We are not there yet, but there are elements of that performance that will stand us in good stead.
“We stress teams the most when we keep the ball alive and have quick movement in our game. For that to happen, partnerships are really important and I saw a lot of positive things in our midfield partnership for example.
“I saw a lot of things there that I liked.
“I thought Eddie James had one of his best games for us. He is a real talent, a real athlete. He and Joe (Hawkins) worked well and I thought we have X-factor players when we move the ball.
“Someone like Jac Davies, who is one of the young players in this group who has a real spark, had a fantastic game.”
Davies added: “I was proud of that performance and delighted by how we took the challenge on.
“I have told the players that they have set their standards this whole week with how they have applied themselves mentally and physically.”
Saints were able to boss the scrum battle, giving them a platform to build on in what was a scrappy game at times.
“If you ask me the difference between the two teams, it would have been the scrum," Davies said.
“There were a lot of scrum penalties against us, off our ball and their ball, and also a couple of kicks that didn’t make touch.
"There were a lot of launch opportunities that we missed out on there and that was the game.
“Physically, I thought we manned up, the boys did everything asked of them.
"What we need to do is get up to those levels of performance every week, they have set the standard – they need to maintain that now.
"Hopefully we can do that moving forward.”
Scarlets were backed by a vociferous set of travelling supporters who were situated on the terrace at cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens.
And Davies said: “They were superb, they really lifted the boys when they had to dig deep.
“The players feed off the supporters and vice versa.”