A second win in two games this month means the Scarlets still sit sixth in the RaboDirect PRO12 standings, four points clear of Newport Gwent Dragons but 10 adrift of fifth-placed Glasgow.
And while the three-try success was a welcome result after last week’s trip to Ulster fell foul of the weather, Easterby knows a failure to pick up a bonus point could be costly as they look to mount a serious charge towards the play offs.
“There was some relief, frustration, disappointment. We’re relieved to come away with the win – we’ve collected nine points from 10 over the last few weeks – but we missed out on a point,” said Easterby.
“Last weekend’s postponement may have had a bearing on the game, we started poorly and didn’t bring enough intensity or urgency into our game.
“We scored some really nice tries: we identified certain areas where we thought we could reward ourselves with points and we did just that. I just think we lacked a bit of energy and accuracy and kept allowing them to stay in the game – after we scored they came back into it nearly every time. “
Next up for the Scarlets is a home tie with table toppers Munster, who beat the Ospreys 25-11 for a 13th league win of the season on Sunday.
The Irish giants have been beaten just twice in the PRO12 this term but the Scarlets came agonizingly close to recording a superb victory at Musgrave Park back in December. Only a last-gasp try stopped Easterby’s troops from heading home with a famous success and the former Ireland flanker is confident his team can complete the job this time around, but only if they improve significantly on Saturday’s performance.
“It was certainly a bit of a wake up call with Munster on the horizon,” added Easterby, after two tries from Jordan Williams and one from Adam Warren ensured they completed a season’s double over the Scots.
“We should have beaten Munster away. We played 12 or so minutes of extra time and Munster beat us at the death.
“We need to keep climbing the table and stretch the gap between us and the teams below us and close the gap on the teams above. We have to keep winning. There’s a bit of a gap between us and the teams in fifth and fourth place but we have the confidence that we can get results against the top sides.”
