Scarlets made it five wins in a row at Parc y Scarlets in all competition on Saturday despite being pushed all the way by a committed Zebre site who went down 27-20. It was revenge of sorts for the Welsh outfit, who were held to a draw by bottom club Zebre in their previous meeting earlier this season. But victory for the home side helped consolidate their top six spot, as they overcame a 13-9 first-half deficit following tries from Giulio Toniolatti and Samuela Vunisa. Jordan Williams and Ken Owens touched down after the break while Rhys Priestland finished with a personal haul of 17 points. Priestland knocked over two early penalties to get Scarlets on the scoreboard before Gonzalo Garcia replied with three points off the tee. And Zebre took a surprise lead when No.8 Vunisa broke from the back of a five-metres scrum and burst through several would-be tacklers to crash over the line. The conversion was missed but Scarlets looked in serious trouble when Toniolatti added a second try before the interval to make it 13-9 at the interval after another Priestland three-pointer. And the half-time team talk obviously worked wonders as the fightback began in earnest after the interval, Jordan Williams racing away from the tiring Zebre defence to dive over the whitewash. Priestland’s conversion made it 16-13 to the home side who began to gain a measure of control for the first time. And Scarlets looked to have wrapped things up when hooker Ken Owens finishing off a powerful team move from close range with the Zebre defence unable to hold out under pressure. Leading 21-13, another penalty from the boot of Priestland looked to have put the result beyond Zebre. But centre Gonzalo Garcia gave the visitors hope when he found half a yard of space to evade his marker and ground the ball. The conversion brought them back to within four points and had Scarlets fans biting their nails until another Priestland penalty calmed their nerves. The seven-point cushion was enough to see the Scarlets over the line, denying Zebre the first back-to-back undefeated outings in their RaboDirect PRO12 history after a 25-25 draw with Newport Gwent Dragons in their last outings. And despite the pressing in the final minutes the penalty count was ultimately their undoing as Priestland’s boot proved the difference. Follow us on Facebook, join the conversation on Twitter, sign up to our YouTube channel for extensive match highlights and sign up for our newsletter for regular updates on the RaboDirect PRO12
