RHODRI Williams said he was delighted to lead Dragons to a remarkable 52-32 victory over former club Scarlets in an action-packed Pro14 Rainbow Cup opener at Rodney Parade on Sunday.

The scrum-half, who hails from Ammanford, said he was pleased with the performance of his side, who made seven changes after the late loss to Northampton in Europe last time out.

“I felt it was a good performance,” said the 27 year-old number nine, a former pupil at Amman Valley Comprehensive School, who has also played for Llandovery, Scarlets and Bristol.

“There is still plenty to work on and there were thoughts of Northampton, and letting them back in, but the boys turned that momentum around and we got some scores towards the end.

“Derby games are special and to get a result like that, the boys are chuffed with this win - it would have been a lot nicer if Rodney Parade was full, but we will enjoy that one.”

Two tries apiece from Wales pair Jonah Holmes and Aaron Wainwright and further scores from Jordan Williams, Rio Dyer and Aneurin Owen sealed the win in a free-scoring encounter.

Fly-half Sam Davies added 17 points for a home side, whilst Scarlets responded with a double from Steff Evans and tries from Iestyn Rees, on his debut, Dane Blacker and Johnny McNicholl.

Ryan Elias, who captained the Scarlets, said: “We have got to be honest with ourselves, that just wasn’t good enough, the areas where we were poor today we had spoken about all week.

“Fronting up at first phase, not allowing them to get momentum, it just wasn’t there today, we run in some good tries, but at the end of the day you have to front up in defence.

“We have to improve our physicality, and we have to take a long hard look at ourselves and have a big couple of weeks leading up to the next game against the Ospreys.”

The previous day had seen Ospreys' win their opening Pro14 Rainbow Cup match 36-14 against Cardiff Blues – although a worrying injury to Wales back George North overshadowed the win.

Two tries from hooker Ifan Phillips and further scores from Keiran Williams, Matthew Aubrey, Sam Cross and Sam Parry sealed the victory, whilst Max Llewellyn and Ellis Bevan scored for Blues.

“We had a bit of time on the training pitch and had some things to work on,” said Ospreys skipper Justin Tipuric. “We got a few things right out there, but we know we’ve still got a lot to work on.

“We’d like to be more clinical, when there’s no crowd you’ve got to create that buzz yourselves; be in each other’s ears to help each other.”