Scarlets Development provided a glimpse of the future, scoring five tries in an impressive 29-10 victory over Dragons A at Rodney Parade on Friday night.

Wing Ryan Conbeer and replacement hooker Daf Hughes grabbed two tries apiece, while centre Tyler Morgan also crossed against his former side.

Both of the Conbeer tries came courtesy of superbly-weighted cross-kicks from fly-half Rhys Patchell who played an hour in his first Scarlets appearance for more than a year.

Inside him, 18-year-old scrum-half Archie Hughes caught the eye, Joe Roberts produced some strong moments in midfield while prop Kemsley Mathias and No. 8 Carwyn Tuipulotu also stood out.

It was the home side who were quickest out of the blocks, exploiting a blindside gap to send scrum-half Dan Babos over in the second minute.

The Dragons and the number nine were celebrating their second on the 20-minute mark after a Scarlets attack was charged down and Babos combined with speedster Rio Dyer to go the distance.

The Scarlets grew into the contest as the half wore on and were rewarded with their opening try on 26 minutes.

Patchell turned the clock back to the 2017 PRO12 final with a lovely kick which bounced into the arms of Conbeer and the right winger did the rest, stepping inside the final defender and crossing.

A second try arrived just before half-time.

The dangerous Roberts produced a lovely outside break, found skipper Shaun Evans on the inside and the hooker fed Tyler Morgan for a free run to the posts at his old stamping ground.

Patrchell’s conversion made it 12-10, but the Scarlets needed some resolute defence on their own line to maintain that advantage at the interval.

Enjoying the bulk of territory and possession, the Scarlets continued to press after the break and it was the Patchell-Conbeer combo that resulted in try number three on the hour mark, thanks to another inch-perfect kick from the Wales international.

The missed conversion was Patchell’s last contribution of the game, but the fly-half will be more than happy with his first outing of the campaign.

With the replacements flooding on, Scarlets finished the game far the stronger.

Hughes powered over from close range, then bagged another six minutes from time from a well-drilled line-out catch and drive.

The dangerous Tom Rogers almost created a couple of other opportunities late on, but a 29-10 final scoreline capped an encouraging evening all-round for the coaching team.