FOXY’S BACK... AND HE’S TOO CLEVER FOR KINGS TO COPE WITH
JONATHAN Davies celebrated his return to competitive rugby by inspiring the Scarlets with two tries in a rout of the anything-but-regal Kings.
They were chanting “Foxy”, “Foxy” around the ground as the Lions and Wales centre made a triumphant comeback, close on 11 months since he’d played a competitive game.
The Scarlets scored eight touchdowns all told and played the game at a pace the Kings couldn’t live with. They also kept going for the full 80 minutes, keeping their collective boot on the throat of the opposition.
But it was Davies who caught the eye with his powerful thrusts up the middle.
He treated the Kings defence as if it were made of papier mache and had his brace of touchdowns in the bag within 25 minutes.
Considering he had been out for so long, it was some effort by the centre.
Wayne Pivac left him on for the entire game, presumably to bring him up to speed ahead of the derby with the Ospreys next weekend. In truth, Davies looked up to speed from the time he set foot on the field.
There was a slight concern when he appeared to limp in the closing seconds. But, overall, Pivac will be pleased. Kings were desperately poor but the Scarlets exposed them, attacking with precision and skill.
Davies scored twice and there were touchdowns for Paul Asquith, Ioan Nicholas, Steff Evans, Simon Gardiner, Kieran Hardy and Dan Davis. Flanker Davis, making his first start in the PRO14, also had a fine game.
Pivac had made one thing clear to his patched-up side before kick-off — there could be no excuses. There weren’t.
His star centre didn’t take long to mark his return with a try.
The score had its roots in a break through a woefully weak defence by Rhys Patchell.
Kings appeared to have halted the threat out wide, only for Johnny McNicholl to put Davies in from close range.
It wasn’t long before the South Africans were lining up beneath their posts again, with Asquith opening their rearguard with the hint of a dummy and a hand-off.
It was absurdly easy and shouldn’t happen that way at this level.
But Clayton Blommetjies didn’t do much better when called into defensive action for the Scarlets after fly-half Martin Du Toit had brought Bjorn Basson into play out wide. Blommetjies needed to make the hit but didn’t, allowing the Kings left wing to touch down.
The Scarlets reasserted themselves through Davies, who profited from good work from Sam HidalgoClyne and Asquith, putting the hosts 21-7 ahead, only for Basson to reply after slick midfield passing.
The second half was one-way traffic. Davies set up a score for Nicholas by charging through weak tackling, then Davis marked his first PRO14 start with a touchdown.
Kings were reeling. They couldn’t handle the Scarlets’ ability to sustain passages of play and they were often left chasing shadows.
Replacement prop Gardiner went over from close range on 66 minutes, before Evans arrowed across after fine work from David Bulbring.
It was left to scrum-half Hardy to add the final score.
A good night’s work for the West Walians, then, what they needed before they play their old rivals.