Battling Scarlets secure victory against a strong Zebre side

by Helen ‘Helzbach’ Davies

Following an amazing performance last week against the Tigers that can only be described as heroic, it was back to business for the seventh round of the Guinness Pro 12 League.

A wet, miserable Parc y Scarlets was the venue for this fixture against the Italian team Zebre. Depiste being labelled the minnows, the Italians were able to field a strong starting line up in comparison to the Scarlets who were almost unrecognisable due to a high number of absences from injury and international duties.

With swirling wind and rain, conditions were far from perfect for an evening of running rugby. Scarlets’ Steve Shingler put the first points on the board following strong scrummaging from the home team to give his side a 3 point to 0 advantage.

It took almost 15 minutes for the crowd to have something to cheer about as play was affected by the weather, but a break from local boy Steffan Evans, making his debut, saw him live up to the pre-match hype as he put his side into a good attacking position.

Another scrum saw the Zebre forwards destroyed by the power of their opposite numbers and again Shingler was able to repay his team mates for their efforts as he slotted over his second penalty of the evening to increase the Scarlets’ lead to 6 points to 0.

In complete contrast to previous scrums, Zebre secured their first points of the half within seconds, with Outside Half Edoardo Padovani cutting the deficit to 6 points to 3 as the Italians gave the Scarlets a taste of their own scrum medicine!

Despite some strong Scarlets defence that saw Scrum Half Aled Davies charge down an attempted Drop Goal, the home team were unable to prevent the visitors having a second chance at scoring some points and Padovani upheld the 100% kicking record to equalise the score at 6 points all.

Seconds later Shingler’s third successful penalty saw the Scarlets back in the lead once more 9 points to 6, however, it could well have been the first try of the evening as Steffan Hughes had broken clear, but referee Conway from Ireland didn’t seem to have heard of the advantage rule.

A comedy of refereeing errors did see the first try of the match scored, unfortunately not for the men in red. With several blatant errors being missed by both referee and touch judges alike the end result saw Valerio Bernabo cross for the opening try. Padovani’s conversion saw his team take the lead for the first time – 9 points to 13.

Shingler was able to narrow the gap immediately with his fourth successive penalty to give the visitors a slender 13 points to 12 lead. However, unfortunately, another bizarre refereeing decision that sent a wave of boos around the stadium offered Padovani a chance to increase the Italians’ lead. Justice was served as for the first time in the match, a kick sailed wide of the posts.

Despite good field position and a strong end to the half, the Scarlets successfully defended their lines to finish the first half with just a point separating the two teams.

The second half started with a familiar feel…..scrum down, huge Scarlets forward effort….penalty….and Shingler’s fifth successful kick saw the home team regain the lead – 15 points to 13.

With conditions easing slightly, the Scarlets were finally able to piece together some passes, gaining ground and easily passing the gain line until it finally took a dangerous high tackle to halt proceedings. They were able to leave the Zebre 22 with points though as Shingler made it 6 penalties from 6 to give the Scarlets a little breathing space – 18 points to 13.

It looked likely that the home team were finally going to score their first try of the evening following a break from James Davies, younger brother of Jonathan ‘Foxy’ Davies, however referee Conway penalised him for holding on, despite the fact that he hadn’t even been held in the tackle!

Again justice was served as a slippery ball resulted in another scrum….and once more the Zebre forwards were taught a lesson in how to scrummage from the Welsh. A slightly different outcome this time though, as Zebre were handed a yellow card and unfortunately Shingler was unable to continue his 100% kicking record.

The home team were unable to take advantage of their extra man for long as George Earle saw yellow also at the line out.

The decision to kick for the corner rather than taking the points proved to be the correct one despite relying on the ball going forward off an Italian hand at the line out. A huge effort from the driving Scarlets forwards saw them inch ever closer to the whitewash in a move finished off by replacement Steffan Hughes. Shingler added the conversion to give the Scarlets a 25 points to 13 lead.

Following a decision to kick for the corner again rather than take the points, the Scarlets relied on handling errors from the Italians as they made life difficult for themselves at the line out. Unfortunately the outcome was different this time as they found themselves back in their own 22 and defending.

With the minutes ticking away, it was a welcome sight to see Jacobie Adriaanse making a return from injury.

Another good passage of play from the Scarlets again saw Hughes break out of his own half, combining well with Centre Gareth Owen. It was just a ball representing a bar of slippery slope that prevented him scoring his brace of tries. However, a charge down of the clearing kick did give the Scarlets faithful hope, but the ball trickled centimeters over the touch line before Aled Davies could ground it.

The Scarlets were able to end the game by adding more points to their final tally as Steve Shingler completed his match with a personal tally of 23 points with his successful penalty giving the home team a winning margin of 28 points to 13.

Next Friday evening sees the visit of Northampton Saints as the LV= Cup begins, kick off 7.30pm.