Relief for Scarlets as they avoid bottom spot
ZEBRE ........................... 18 SCARLETS ................... 32
SCARLETS boss Dwayne Peel was delighted after his side ensured they would not finish bottom of this season’s URC table with a 32-18 win over Zebre.
A brace of tries from scrumhalf Gareth Davies, as well as further scores from Ryan Elias and Tomi Lewis, ensured the Scarlets won for just the fourth time this campaign.
It was also their first victory outside of Wales for more than two years, with their last coming against Zebre in March 2022.
Head coach Peel said he was thrilled by the way his side performed as they were rewarded for a dominant showing.
“We’re absolutely delighted with the win,” he said.
“We dominated possession and took our chances when we got into their half. I felt at times we let them back into it, but we took back control of the game and scored some good tries.
“They came after us, but credit to the lads, we stuck at it, played in the right areas and got the rewards.”
It was the URC’s basement side who opened the scoring, with Giovanni Licata forcing his way over after just three minutes.
The Scarlets responded well, with Wales hooker Elias powering over after a period of sustained pressure for the away side.
They then forged ahead, with Davies crossing for the first of his two tries after neat handling from Taine Plumtree and Ryan Conbeer out wide – even if the former’s offload appeared to be forward.
The boot of Giovanni Montemauri moved the home side back in front, before Davies crossed for his 50th league try with a trademark interception on the half-hour mark to hand the Scarlets a half-time lead.
Winger Lewis crossed for the bonus-point score shortly after the restart, only for Muhamed Hasa to get a try back for the home side.
However, a handful of penalties from Wales fly-half Sam Costelow ensured that Zebre – who also lost replacement Thomas Dominguez to a yellow card late on – wouldn’t be able to pull a second victory of the season out of the hat as the Scarlets closed out a much-needed victory.
The West Wales region end what has been a difficult campaign on June 1 when they take on the Dragons on Judgement Day.