EVANS ABOVE: SCARLETS ARE DENIED AMID LATE DRAMA
MANOFTHEMATCH Jarrod Evans landed a late penalty to secure a bonus-point victory for Cardiff Blues in a rollercoaster Rainbow Cup clash at Parc y Scarlets.
After achieving a double success over their West Wales rivals in the Guinness PRO14, the Blues recorded a nail-biting victory to keep alive their hopes of progressing in the Rainbow Cup.
But a second defeat for the Scarlets has severely dented their hopes.
The Blues looked to be cruising to an easy win when they claimed their fourth try to wrap up the bonus point and go 26-9 up after 44 minutes.
But the Scarlets staged a thrilling final-quarter comeback to take the lead with just minutes to go, only for flyhalf Evans to have the last word.
It was a highly eventful encounter with seven tries and captain’s challenges being denied amid a grandstand finish.
In the end, it was fitting that Evans should decide the outcome as he was the game’s outstanding performer.
He sidestepped over for the opening touchdown and weaved his magic with his range of passing, his running game and his eye for a gap, while he also pulled off a try-saving tackle.
The 24-year-old hasn’t played for Wales since February 2020, but on this form he has put his hand up in a big way to be involved in the summer internationals against Canada and Argentina, especially with Dan Biggar away with the Lions.
Wales coach Wayne Pivac was present and he would have been impressed by the performances of Evans and his Blues half-back partner Tomos Williams and Evans.
Leigh Halfpenny gave the home side an early lead with a third-minute penalty but the Blues soon responded with the opening try.
The visitors maintained possession for a lengthy period, with Jason Harries and James Ratti both making crucial contributions before Willis Halaholo sent Evans over.
Minutes later, the Blues looked to have scored again when another flowing move saw Josh Turnbull crash over, but TMO replays showed the away side’s skipper had put a foot in touch thanks to an excellent tackle from Tom Rogers.
However, it mattered little as the visitors continued to dominate the opening period.
And they were rewarded when lock Cory Hill picked a trademark line to crash over. Evans converted before Halfpenny succeeded with his second penalty after missing with a more difficult kick.
But the Blues continued to be the better attacking side and it came as no surprise when Wales international Hallam Amos raced through the home defence to score their third try before Halfpenny kicked another penalty to leave his side trailing 19-9 at the interval.
Five minutes after the restart former Scarlet Turnbull forced his way over for a bonus-point try following another well-constructed attack and the hosts looked set for a heavy defeat.
The Scarlets brought on club captain Ken Owens in an attempt to reverse the tide and the decision was rewarded when a strong run from Johnny McNicholl set up a try for scrum-half Dane Blacker.
The hosts were now in full flow and a second try from Blacker brought his side right back into contention with nine minutes remaining.
The Blues should have sealed victory, but inexplicably Evans chose to go it alone instead of supplying Lloyd Williams with a scoring pass and was hauled down.
It almost proved disastrous as five minuted from time the Scarlets took the lead when Angus O’Brien ran on to a grubber kick from Dan Jones to claim a converted score.
Turnbull’s captain’s challenge over an alleged pull back on him in the build-up was rejected and the try stood.
Then three minutes from time there was a further twist when the Blues were awarded a penalty.
Scarlets skipper Owens attempted to lodge his own captain’s challenge, claiming an opposing player had come in from the side.
But, without reviewing the incident, Irish referee Sean Gallagher ruled that it was not a case of foul play and not leading to a try, so there could be no challenge.
That caused some confusion amid suggestions that you can challenge anything in the last five minutes of a game.
But Gallagher stuck to his guns and Evans landed the penalty to seal the
result.
Dai Flanagan, who is in temporary charge at the Scarlets following the exit of Glenn Delaney and ahead of Dwayne Peel’s arrival in the summer, said: “It has been a bit of a whirlwind, to be honest.
“I have made it public how I have been supported by the players and you could see the effort they put in today. They want to fight for things.
“It was just disappointing that we left ourselves so much to do.”
The Blues’ victory followed their late rally to beat the Dragons the previous weekend. They now have two wins from three games in the new competition.
“Obviously the most pleasing thing was coming down here and getting the victory,” said director of rugby Young. “It’s always a difficult place to come and get the win.
“The last five minutes in the last two games have been nip and tuck, and games we could have lost, but we’ve found a way to win and run the clock down.
“In the early parts of the season, we would have lost those games. You look at recent games against Connacht and Munster, where we were in a similar position but the games got away from us.
“It’s nice to see that we’ve actually learnt from those defeats because that’s what you always say you should do.
“In the last couple of games we’ve shown that we can handle those last five minutes better than we did previously.”
SCARLETS: L. Halfpenny; T. Rogers, J. Davies, I. Nicholas, J. McNicholl;
REFEREE: