A SLIP IN BATTLE INSISTS DELANEY
Delaney’s side were straight back in search of a second try, constantly applying pressure through a series of repeat scrums.
Ryan Elias thought he had scored the second, only for his effort to be chalked off after video replays showed Leonardo Sarto did tremendously well to hold the hooker up.
But the Scarlets’ constant battering at the Benetton rearguard eventually took its toll as the match entered its second quarter.
The penalties conceded by the Italian outfit resulted in hooker Tomas Baravalle and tight-head prop Tiziano Pasquali being sent to the sinbin in quick succession.
Now up against 13 men, the Scarlets rattled their way to a quickfire bonus point with three tries in six minutes.
First, Costelow scythed through the shortened Benetton defence to reach out, unfortunately injuring himself in the process. That injury ultimately ended his afternoon a little later on, but not before the Scarlets had scored their third try.
Minutes after Costelow had crossed, Morgan crossed for a fine try, taking the ball out wide, riding a tackle near the touchline before some cutting through two tackles to finish a wonderful individual score.
Both tries were converted by Wales wing Steff Evans, who took over temporary kicking responsibilities after Costelow’s injury.
He didn’t convert the bonus-point try, with Dan Jones on to replace Costelow by then, with the replacement fly-half immediately playing a big part in the fourth try.
His grubber kick was flicked forward by the boot of Johnny Mcnicholl, with scrum-half Blacker there to dive upon the loose ball.
Trailing by 23 points at half-time, the Italians sought to remedy a few of their ills and came out fired up.
A flowing counter-attacking try by Angelo Esposito was pulled back for a knock-on, before Benetton got their reward for a solid start to the second half moments later.
Leonardo Sarto was on the end of another decent move as he stepped inside Evans to cross untouched.
Following that, Benetton never really threatened a comeback, with the Scarlets looking comfortable for large periods without showing too much efficiency in the danger zone, a facet of the game that will still concern Delaney.
However, a late flurry from hosts saw them finish strongly.
Jones added a penalty with 15 minutes left, before Kalamafoni dived over after a nice carry in midfield from Tyler Morgan. the
Benetton rumbled over for a try from a driving maul with five minutes left, with Corniel Els the scorer.
But the final word went to the Scarlets when some nice handling from Mcnicholl put Asquith over for their sixth try late on.
Delaney added: “The optimism was there to play and you saw the desire to move the ball wide. I was really pleased with that.
“It is about us being as good as we can be. We have worked incredibly hard for three weeks and the boys got their reward out there.
“They are a hard-working bunch. I love working with them and they deserve that.”
WE are accustomed to hearing about rugby players being laid up with torn ligaments or muscles, concussion or broken bones.
But the ailment which has kept Aaron Shingler on the sidelines for the best part of a year has been different and scary.
The Grand Slam-winning Wales forward has been fighting an inflammatory condition which he was struck down with after being taking ill during lockdown.
It meant him coming under the care of a rheumatologist and being put on special medication.
So it’s has been a long, slow road to recovery for the 33-year-old.
But now there is finally light at the end of the tunnel.
He is back in full training with the Scarlets and the hope is he will return to action in the next couple of weeks.
His club coach Glenn Delaney has been outlining just what the Scarlets flanker has gone through.
“It’s been a real rollercoaster for him,” said the New Zealander.
“You are seven-odd months deep on a pretty challenging situation. It was an inflammatory response. Those things tend to come under rheumatologists.
“If you have an overactive inflammatory response, it can affect joints and your ability to move and walk.
“The key thing was to get that under control, which they did really well, but it does take time.
“It was pretty scary there for a while. Every day, something was changing and it was different and it did take a while to get it under control.
“At a stage there, he was taking it hour by hour and then into day by day. As things progressed and the specialists got on top of it, you could see the signs of recovery.
“You then go through the phase of reducing the dose in terms of the medication. We are fortunate that the experts who were on hand to help him did a great job. It was more of a health-related situation, which I guess could happen to any of us, regardless of being a rugby player.
“Now that’s all subsided, the key thing is the reconditioning.”
It’s the second lengthy lay-off the 27cap Shingler has endured in recent years.
During the 2018 Guinness PRO14 final defeat to Leinster, he suffered a major knee injury, keeping him out of action for more than a year.
He battled his way back to be part of Wales’s 2019 World Cup squad and played six matches in Japan.
There was a further appearance against England in last year’s Six Nations, but he hasn’t been on the field again since that March day at Twickenham.
Delaney said: “He has got a pretty strong mindset. He has been really well supported by his family. They have helped him out massively.
“What you need to understand with Shings is he will give you exactly what he is thinking. He is pretty matter of fact.
“He’s a competitive sportsman who understands his body and knows the body is the tools.
“His mindset has been brilliant and he’s great to have in and around the environment.
“He is back on the training field and in full units. So we are not too far away with him.
“We are just slowly building him up, but I reckon the next couple of weeks we might be able to shift the needle on him.
“It’s now about him returning to being a rugby player which we are really pleased to see happening.”