SCARLETS ................................................ 41 CONNACHT .............................................. 36
THE Scarlets overcame a 21-point half time deficit to claim a remarkable 41-36 victory over Connacht in Llanelli last night, writes Matt Southcombe.
Glenn Delaney’s side got off to a perfect start when Aaron Shingler dived over in the corner after just three minutes but things soon swung against them.
Connacht went straight up the other end of the field and set up camp, with Marc Jones going to the sin bin for a cynical infringement brought on by minutes of pressure. One minute later, John Porch was cantering over for a simple score on the far side. Conor Fitzgerald’s conversion gave the Irish side the lead.
The second try of the sin bin came in the 18th minute. The move started in Connacht’s half and ended with Abraham Papali’i powering through Steff Evans and Tom Rogers in the near corner.
The hosts thought they’d hit back in the 26th minute when Rogers went over for a score of his own, but it was ruled out and Pieter Scholtz was shown a yellow card for leading with the forearm into contact in the build up.
Piling on the woe, Connacht then went from their own 10 metre line with centre Sean O’Brien breaking before receiving the scoring pass back to cross for a scintillating first phase move.
Scarlets skipper Steff Hughes hit back with a score after a neat offload from Steff Evans but Dominic Robertson-McCoy soon wrapped up the bonus point with a try from close range.
There was still time in the half for Kieran Marmion to finish off another long-range effort from the visitors with the Scarlets’ defence leaking like a sieve.
After seven tries and two yellow cards, the Scarlets trailed Connacht 33-12 at the break.
They started the second half brightly, though, and half time replacement Johnny Williams – who almost single handedly turned the game – barged through some passive defence before offloading to Hughes, who went over for his second try to eat away at the deficit.
Soon Sam Lousi was doing the damage, catching the Connacht defence napping to break into the 22 before finding scrum-half Dan Blacker, who raced away. Jones’ conversion made it a one-score game.
Then came the try of the night. Scarlets spun the ball wide to Tom Rogers and, with nothing on, he stood up Connacht full-back Porch and sped 30 metres up the far touchline to score an outrageous try. Jones’ conversion hit the post and the hosts trailed by two.
The Scarlets No.10 then booted his side in front from the tee with 10 minutes to go. A late try from replacement prop Javan Sebastian completed a remarkable comeback.
Jack Carty added a late penalty to secure Connacht a losing bonus point.
Scarlets: Tries: Aaron Shingler, Steff Hughes (2), Dan Blacker, Tom Rogers, Javan Sebastian; Cons: Dan Jones (4); Pens: Dan Jones (1)
Yellow Cards: Marc Jones, Pieter Scholtz Connacht: Tries: John Porch, Abraham Papali’i, Sean O’Brien, Dominic Robertson-McCoy, Kieran Marmion; Cons: Conor Fitzgerald (4); Pens: Jack Carty (1)