Scarlets beat Newcastle 47-14 as Costelow injury clouds seven-try win

Scarlets opened their European Challenge Cup campaign with a 47-14 victory over Newcastle Red Bulls on Saturday, scoring seven tries and reaching half-time 26-0 ahead. Press Association Sport, in a report published by Nation.Cymru, described a match in which the visitors' two tries came only after Scarlets had established their advantage.

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The result brought an injury concern for Wales, however. BBC Sport reported that fly-half Sam Costelow left the field before half-time with a hamstring problem after scoring the opening try. His departure came three days before Wales coach Steve Tandy was due to announce his squad for November's Autumn Nations Championship. The report did not establish a recovery timetable.

According to the Press Association account, Costelow scored in the 12th minute and converted his own try, with Fletcher Anderson adding another nine minutes later. Johnny Williams, formerly of Newcastle, then crossed against his old club. Gareth Davies supplied the fourth try before the interval, giving Scarlets a commanding lead with an entire half still to play.

BBC Sport's account detailed the contributions behind those scores. Davies sent a cross-field kick towards Ellis Mee in the build-up to Anderson's try, while Alex Groves broke through and delivered the pass for Williams to score. Joe Hawkins replaced Costelow and converted Davies's try after another break from Mee.

Scarlets had a possible fifth try ruled out for a forward pass shortly after the restart, Press Association reported. Newcastle also had an appeal for an Obi Ene try rejected by the video referee. Their task became harder when Murray McCallum was sin-binned, leaving the visitors with 14 players during the second half.

Mee and Macs Page continued the home scoring, with Page registering two tries on his 50th Scarlets appearance, according to BBC Sport. Newcastle eventually replied through Oli Spencer and Ollie Leatherbarrow, with Josh Hodge converting both. The defeat was Newcastle's fourth in succession after three league losses, while Scarlets finished their European opener with a bonus-point victory.