Scarlets run riot to leave Bath on a knife-edge

THE scintillating Scarlets tore Bath apart to leave their hopes of a European Cup quarter-final hanging by a thread. Tries from Tadhg Beirne, Paul Asquith, Hadleigh Parkes and Scott Williams were enough for the five-point win which takes the Scarlets top of their pool. Bath must win in Treviso next weekend and hope other results go their way, as England face the possibility of having no club in the European knockout stages for the first time. The Scarlets scored three tries and led by 19 points at the break after a stunning 40 minutes of attacking audacity. First lock Beirne sidestepped Anthony Watson at full back after a flowing end-to-end move. Then the Welshmen scored twice more when their No 8 John Barclay was in the sin-bin. Freddie Burns — on in the fifth minute for the injured Rhys Priestland — kicked a penalty. But the Scarlets then ripped Bath to shreds with their off-loading and didn’t kick a thing. One tapped penalty went to Aaron Shingler, who handed off Chris Cook, and Rhys Patchell combined with Parkes to find Asquith, who scored on the right. Then the third. Gareth Davies left Cook for dead, having gathered quick line-out ball, and fed Parkes (above) on a short line to score between the posts. The second half only cemented their dominance. When Patchell grubber-kicked through for Scott Williams’s try 12 minutes after the break the Scarlets had their bonus point. Matt Banahan scored an acrobatic consolation and Zach Mercer dived in, with Burns converting both, but two more Jones penalties saw Bath battered.