The 2008–09 season is the sixth in the history of the Scarlets regional side. The season will see the Scarlets compete in three competitions: the Celtic League, the EDF Energy Cup and the Heineken Cup. The season welcomes a change of ground, with the team moving from their home of over 125 years, Stradey Park, to a new stadium in Pemberton named Parc y Scarlets, as well as a change in the team name, dropping the "Llanelli" from their moniker to become the Scarlets.
Pre-season and friendlies
Celtic League
The Scarlets opened their 2008-09 Celtic League season away to Ulster on 5 September 2008. Despite playing against the wind in the first half, the Scarlets scored an early penalty in the sixth minute, before Darren Daniel scored the first try of the game, crossing in the corner. Clinton Schifcofske scored three penalties in response to make the half-time score 10–9 to the visitors. The Scarlets then took full advantage of the wind in the second half, Stephen Jones putting over two penalties to put the result beyond doubt. The Scarlets' next match came five days later, when they travelled to Rodney Parade to take on the Newport Gwent Dragons. The game looked out of the Llanelli side's reach at half time, as they trailed 25–6, but two unanswered tries from Martin Roberts and Nathan Brew, a conversion and two further penalties from Stephen Jones pulled the score back to 25–24. Brew came close to putting the Scarlets into the lead with 11 minutes to go, but fumbled the ball before he could get to the line, while Stephen Jones put an easy drop goal wide moments later. Fortunately for him, after Robert Lewis conceded a penalty in front of the posts, Jones finally gave the Scarlets a two-point win with three minutes left to play.
The team's next game came just three days later, at home to Connacht in the first of their final three games at Stradey Park. The Irish side opened the scoring with a penalty in the first minute, but those were to be their only points of the match as the Scarlets tore through the Connacht defence seemingly at will. Both Morgan Stoddart and Dafydd James broke the Connacht line before Deacon Manu scored the first try of the game, and then an almost identical one soon after to make the score 12–3 going into half-time. Two more tries came soon after the break, from Jonathan Davies and Nathan Brew, securing the try bonus point for the Scarlets. Man of the match Morgan Stoddart added two more before the end, with his tries separated by one from Mark Jones, to end the final Celtic League game at Stradey Park with a 45–3 win for the home side.
The Scarlets unbeaten start to the season came to an end on 19 September when they travelled to Scotland to play Edinburgh, losing 32–12. The loss meant that the Scarlets' run of being the only team not to beat Edinburgh at Murrayfield continued. It took 26 minutes before the first try came for Edinburgh, and it was not long before they added a second. They could have had a third just before half time, but Mark Robertson knocked on in the in-goal area attempting to gather a bouncing ball. The third eventually did come, however, as did a fourth before the midpoint of the second half. A Morgan Stoddart try was sandwiched between Edinburgh's two second half scores, and Martin Roberts crossed with a minute left to play, but it was too little, too late for the Scarlets. They then suffered a second defeat to a Scottish team in as many weeks with a 34–20 loss to Glasgow Warriors on 26 September. Despite taking a 12–0 lead in the first quarter of the match, the Scarlets found themselves 13–12 down at half-time and conceded another two tries before the 60 minute mark. Mark Jones scored a consolation try with eight minutes to go, but it was nullified by a last minute Glasgow try.
After a two-month break for the EDF Energy Cup, the Heineken Cup and the Autumn internationals, the Scarlets restarted their Celtic League campaign with a home game against Munster on 28 November 2008, their first match at their new stadium, Parc y Scarlets. The two sides exchanged a penalty each in the first quarter of the game, but it was Munster who scored the first try at the ground, Ian Dowling crossing in the 33rd minute. Denis Leamy then scored a converted try shortly before half-time, making the score 15–3 to the Irish at the interval. The second half was largely uneventful until the Scarlets made a late resurgence, being awarded a penalty try in injury time at the end of the game. However, it was not enough to overturn the Munster lead, the match finishing 18–16 to Munster.