Cardiff holds on against hard-charging Scarlets

MATCH REPORT: Cardiff picked up their first win since Round One, as they beat the Scarlets 16-10 in a United Rugby Championship Round Four encounter Llanelli on Saturday.

Despite being behind with five minutes to go, the Scarlets had their visitors firmly under the cosh and looked like snatching victory until Vaea Fifita was red-carded for a dangerous clearout on Shane Lewis-Hughes to end any hope of a turnaround.

Tomos Williams scored Cardiff’s try, with Jarrod Evans converting and adding three penalties.

Johnny McNicholl accounted for the Scarlets’ only touchdown, while Leigh Halfpenny kicked five points.

A penalty from Evans gave Cardiff an early lead before they suffered an injury setback when centre Rey Lee-Lo was helped off in a dazed state following his attempt to tackle Jonathan Davies.

The penalty from Evans was the only score of the first quarter as two sides lacking in confidence struggled to find their stride.

Cardiff provided the only moment of spark in that opening period when Uilisi Halaholo ran powerfully down the right flank to bump off a few tackles, but the move came to an abrupt halt when Lopeti Timani knocked on.

Halfpenny put his side on the scoreboard with a penalty before Cardiff scored the first try after 25 minutes.

Williams and Rhys Carre combined effectively to create the opportunity for the former to cross, with Evans on target from the tee.

The Scarlets looked to have responded when a long pass from Sam Costelow gave Corey Baldwin the chance to brush aside a weak tackle from Halaholo and race over, but TMO replays showed the pass was forward.

The hosts continued to have the better of territory and possession and they should have been rewarded, but Halfpenny’s penalty attempt rebounded back off a post to leave Cardiff with a 10-3 interval lead.

After the restart, two penalties from Evans extended that advantage before the Scarlets replaced five in one swoop in an attempt to reverse their fortunes.

Inspired by the efforts of number eight Sione Kalamafoni, the Scarlets pack built up a head of steam and, when Cardiff replacement Kirby Myhill was sin-binned for repeated team infringements with 15 minutes remaining, the hosts had their opportunity.

They battered the Cardiff line, but heroic defence kept them out for a time before superior numbers told, with Halfpenny sending McNicholl over in the corner.

Halfpenny’s superb touchline conversion made it a one-score game before Myhill returned, but Cardiff went back to 14 when Theo Cabango was yellow-carded for a deliberate offside.

The visitors looked in desperate trouble until Fifita’s dismissal spared them a late defeat.

Player of the Match

Cardiff skipper Josh Turnbull led by example with a huge defensive shift to repeatedly frustrate the Scarlets. The hosts had much the better of territory and possession, but Turnbull and his forwards were able to nullify those statistics with tenacious tackling.

Play of the match

Fifita’s red card was crucial in the context of the game. Despite there being only five minutes remaining, Cardiff – having picked up two yellow cards – looked in danger of conceding the match-winning try until Fifita’s action took all the Scarlets’ momentum away from them.

The scorers

For Scarlets
Try: McNicholl
Con: Halfpenny
Pen: Halfpenny

For Cardiff
Try: Williams
Con: Evans
Pens: Evans 3

Red card: Vaea Fifita (Scarlets, 77)
Yellow cards: Theo Cabango (Cardiff, 77), Kirby Myhill (Cardiff, 65)

Teams

Scarlets: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Johnny McNicholl, 13 Corey Baldwin, 12 Jonathan Davies (captain), 11 Ryan Conbeer; 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Sione Kalamafoni, 7 Blade Thomson, 6 Vaea Fifita, 5 Sam Lousi, 4 Tom Price, 3 Javan Sebastian, 2 Ryan Elias, 1 Steff Thomas.
Replacements: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Harri O’Connor, 19 Jac Price, 20 Shaun Evans, 21 Dane Blacker, 22 Dan Jones, 23 Steff Evans.

Cardiff: 15 Rhys Priestland, 14 Jason Harries, 13 Rey Lee-Lo, 12 Uilisi Halaholo, 11 Theo Cabango, 10 Jarrod Evans, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Thomas Young, 6 Josh Turnbull (captain), 5 Seb Davies, 4 Lopeti Timani, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 2 Kristian Dacey, 1 Rhys Carré.
Replacements: 16 Kirby Myhill, 17 Corey Domachowski, 18 Will Davies-King, 19 Teddy Williams, 20 Shane Lewis-Hughes, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 Mason Grady, 23 Max Llewellyn.

Referee: Adam Jones (Wales)
Assistant referees: Elgan Williams (Wales) & Mark Butcher (Wales)
TMO: Ian Davies (Wales)