Steve Shingler’s sublime kicking display and Steffan Hughes’ try on his GUINNESS PRO12 debut guided Scarlets to a 28-13 triumph over a resilient Zebre at Parc y Scarlets.

Wayne Pivac’s side trailed 12-13 at half-time through Valerio Bernabo’s charge-down try but ultimately prevailed to extend their unbeaten run at home to 12 games due to the efforts of Hughes and Shingler.

Fly-half Shingler kicked 23 points, landing all but one attempt from the tee, to settle his side’s nerves and ensure John Barclay was victorious in his first game as captain.

The hosts had 18 players missing through injury or international duty and lost Kristian Phillips early on, but Wales Under-20 captain Hughes replaced him and capped a fine display by touching down on 60 minutes.

Dario Chistolini and George Earle both saw yellow for their respective sides but the Welsh region used their dominance in the scrum to deny Zebre a chance of a rare away victory.

The hosts were dealt an early blow when winger Phillips was forced off with a head injury as Hughes slotted into the midfield with Michael Tagicakibau moving to the wing.

Shingler, handed the reins at fly-half in the absence of Welsh international Rhys Priestland, scored a penalty on five minutes to give his side the lead.

The 23-year-old then doubled Scarlets’ advantage ten minutes later in impressive fashion by landing his second attempt from out wide.

Yet the visitors responded with two penalties in quick succession from fly-half Edoardo Padovani to bring the scores level at 6-6 after 25 minutes.

The duel between the two kickers continued with Shingler again making no mistake from the tee to restore Scarlets’ lead after the fly-half’s break had forced Zebre to stray offside.

The Italians stunned the hosts just before the half hour when Scarlets debutant Steffan Evans saw his clearing kick charged down and lock Bernabo claimed the loose ball to touch down under the posts.

Padovani added the extras to give his side a 13-9 lead only for Shingler to reduce the deficit to one point as he made it four from four with the boot after the Zebre scrum was penalised.

Andrea Cavinato’s side had a chance to extend their advantage with another penalty before half time but Padovani’s attempt fell short and wide as it remained 12-13 at the break.

Sensing their unbeaten home record was in danger, Scarlets’ pack began to exert their dominance at the scrum, winning another penalty shortly after the interval.

The Welsh side retook the lead as Shingler duly landed his fifth attempt, this time with assistance from older brother Aaron, who was on hand to hold the ball in place in windy conditions.

The hosts were soon 18-13 ahead as Harry Robinson dashed through the Zebre line before being felled by a high tackle, with Shingler on target once again.

Zebre’s scrum again proved to be their undoing as a powerful drive from the Scarlets’ pack resulted in prop Chistolini sent to the bin yet Shingler recorded his first miss from the resulting penalty.

Scarlets were soon down to 14 men themselves as second row Earle took out a man in the line and was shown a yellow card by referee Gary Conway.

Yet the hosts’ set-piece prowess kept them on the front foot as another commanding scrum allowed Hughes to run onto a short pass and touch down, with Shingler adding the extras.

Hughes made another dart through the Zebre defence in search of his second try but Scarlets were forced to settle for a final penalty as Shingler wrapped up the points with two minutes remaining.

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