Cardiff kicked off their United Rugby Championship (URC) season with a 21-15 win over Scarlets in the first Welsh derby of the campaign, played in Llanelli. The visitors secured their victory with tries from flanker Dan Thomas, player-of-the-match Taine Basham, and replacement hooker Evan Lloyd, all stemming from effective attacking driving line-outs.
Scarlets initially took the lead with first-half tries from centre Joe Roberts and full-back Blair Murray. However, they could only add a single second-half penalty from Joe Hawkins to their tally. The match was played in front of a crowd of 7,073.
Cardiff, who finished sixth last season and were the only Welsh team to reach the play-offs, gave debuts to summer signings Scott Sio and Le Roux Malan. Scarlets, who ended the 2025-26 campaign in 14th place, were led out by vice-captain Ryan Elias, who made his 200th appearance for the club.