Scarlets hold off plucky Zebre
Early scores from Hadleigh Parkes and Aled Davies sent the Welsh region in at the break with a comfortable 17-0 lead. But as the conditions worsened so the Italians, with three wins from their last five in all competitions, came into the game and two Dries van Schalkwyk scores closed the gap.
And with Maselino Paulino in the sin bin, Wayne Pivac's troops looked like they might throw it all away. However, replacement Steven Shingler slotted a late penalty for the hosts to guarantee them their seventh win in the first eight games of the season.
The much-changed Scarlets outfit were on the front foot from the off and a clever kick from DTH van der Merwe gave them territory deep in the Zebre 22. When the lineout was stolen, it was Parkes who shrugged off a couple of weak tackles to stroll under the posts for the game's first try. Aled Thomas added the extras and the Welsh side took an early 7-0 lead.
The second try was not far away either, Parkes again heavily involved as the centre made the initial break before feeding his scrumhalf Davies, who raced clear. Thomas again adding the extra.
A penalty in the 22nd minute was slotted by Thomas and Scarlets were cruising with a 17-0 lead. In the second quarter the conditions began to worsen and that finally brought the Italians into the game. Indeed Wayne Pivac's troops were defending their own line, virtually unbroken, from the half-hour mark until the half time whistle but they held on and went into the sheds with a 17-0 lead.
After the break Zebre needed the first score and it was van Schalkwyk who got it, barging over at the back of the driving maul in the 49th minute. Canna failed to add the extras to leave it at 17-5.
The visitors were definitely in the ascendancy and fantastic work by Rhodri Jones denied a second Zebre try, the prop holding up Marcello Violi over the line. But the same passage of play saw Paulino given a yellow card for coming in from the side and the Italians were lifted.
They took immediate advantage of the extra man when van Schalkwyk picked up from the back of a close-range scrum, shrugged off Aled Davies and dived over for his second. Canna's conversion made it 17-12, just past the hour mark.
But in the final quarter of an hour the Italians never really got in range to land the killer blow and Shingler, who missed a 66th minute penalty that would have done the job, made amends late on. Hands in the ruck from Zebre gave him a kick from nearly bang in front and the replacement slotted over for an unassailable 20-12 lead.
Scorers:
For Scarlets:
Tries: Parkes, Davies
Cons: Thomas 2
Pens: Thomas, Shingler
For Zebre:
Tries: van Schalkwyk 2
Con: Canna
Yellow card: Maselino Paulino (Scarlets, 58)
Teams:
Scarlets: 15 Steffan Evans, 14 Tom Williams, 13 Regan King, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 DTH van der Merwe, 10 Aled Thomas, 9 Aled Davies, 8 John Barclay (captain) 7 James Davies, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Lewis Rawlins, 4 Maselino Paulino, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Emyr Phillips, 1 Rob Evans,
Replacements: 16 Kirby Myhill, 17 Dylan Evans, 18 Rhodri Jones, 19 George Earle, 20 Jack Condy, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Steve Shingler, 23 Gareth Owen.
Zebre: 15 Guglielmo Palazzani, 14 Dion Berryman, 13 Giulio Bisegni, 12 Matteo Pratichetti, 11 Kayle Van Zyl, 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Andries van Schalkwyk, 7 Paul Derbyshire, 6 Jacopo Sarto, 5 George Biagi (captain), 4 Valerio Bernabò, 3 Pietro Ceccarelli, 2 Andrea Manici, 1 Andrea Lovotti.
Replacements: 16 Oliviero Fabiani, 17 Andrea De Marchi, 18 Guillermo Roan, 19 Marco Bortolami, 20 Federico Ruzza, 21 Filippo Ferrarini, 22 Tommaso Boni, 23 Edoardo Padovani.
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
