Conbeer hat-trick gets Scarlets off to a flyer
SCARLETS......................55 NOTTINGHAM...............21
RYAN Conbeer bagged a try hattrick as the Scarlets opened their pre-season campaign in style in Llanelli with a 55-21 win.
Nottingham finished in the lower reaches of the English Championship last year, so perspective is everything.
But it was a nice way to start the Dwayne Peel era.
The triumphant chanting of the Scarlets adopted anthem, Human by the Killers, underlined how pleased the crowd were with what they had seen.
Conbeer was excellent, taking his tries with power and pace. He had a relatively quiet season last term but on this evidence he could be one to watch in 2021-22.
There was also a startling debut from young scrum-half Archie Hughes.
The Tenby product scored two tries and came up with the moment of the match when he unselfishly passed up the chance of a hat-trick by passing inside to Conbeer with the line beckoning. It allowed Conbeer to claim his third score, and his embrace of Hughes after the score showed his gratitude.
Hughes’ gesture wasn’t lost on the crowd around the press area, rather. “Archie Hughes,” one or two murmured, as if trying to embed his name in their minds.
They shouldn’t worry. On this evidence, we’ll be hearing a lot more about the teenager.
There was also an eye-catching outing off the bench from Steff Evans, crowned by two tries.
Nottingham battled hard and took an early lead with their fly half Sam Hollingsworth never less than sharp.
But this was about the Scarlets. Once they blew away the early cobwebs, they handled impressively and took their chances well.
Fly-half Sam Costelow typified the kids’ grit, too, with a try-saving tackle early in the second half.
As Nottingham tired, Conbeer, Hughes, Evans and Co had enough about them to put the English team away.
Peel will surely be happy with what he saw, in the second half in particular.
SCARLETS: Tries: R. Conbeer (3), C. Baldwin, S. Evans, A. Hughes (2), S. Evans (2); Cons: D. Jones (2), S. Costelow (3).
NOTTINGHAM: Tries: S. Hollingsworth (2), L. Barrett; Cons; S. Hollingsworth (3).