Scarlets 34 v 20 Benetton Rugby Treviso - Muddy Madness.

Parc Y Scarlets - 23/2/12

Scarlets 34 v 20 Benetton Rugby Treviso

Can a game with 6 tries be described as poor?

There was little drama before kick off at Parc Y Scarlets, five minutes later however Treviso were dramatically 14 points up. From the first line out they threw long to their scrum half Simone Picone who fed the full back Ludovico Nitoglia inside him in a neat planned move. He was hauled down by winger Fenby short of the line. Fenby manfully tried to get under the ball, but the lubricating qualities of the sodden pitch and momentum was against him. The Scarlets outside half Aled Thomas then gifted another try by taking an inordinate time to clear his lines. Ambling Italian second row Valerio Bernabo charged down his kick and collected. South African born outside half Willem De Waal slotted his second successful conversion.

The standard of play at this point was poor. The Scarlets were determined to keep the ball in hand, but impressive line speed from the Treviso defence, less than impressive refereeing from the touchline and a scree of handling errors by the Scarlets made it look like a very difficult night for them.

Ball carrying number 8 Kieran Murphy broke impressively from his own 22 however. This gave impetus to the backs, Adam Warren making further inroads from centre. One of the incessant (and devoid of finesse) infringements at the breakdown was picked up and scrum half Gareth Davies took the ball up to the 22 from a quick tap. The move floundered, but the Scarlets were at least showing that they were awake.

From a ruck just inside their opponents 22, the ball was passed short to hooker Emyr Phillips who confounded the onrushing defence by shipping it immediately to blind side flanker Josh Turnbull. He brushed aside a weak attempted tackle to cross for the Scarlets first try.

The tide in the game was turning. Another Gareth Davies break put Treviso on the back foot. This time he put boot to ball and dynamo Liam Williams knocked Australian Treviso winger Brendan Williams back over the line for a scrum 5. The Scarlets backrow attacked the line. Prop Manu picked the ball from the back of the resulting ruck and flopped over from a foot and a half.

At the death De Waal added a penalty and the half time score was 14-17.

Thomas altered his tactics, steering the game by excellent out of hand kicking. Deprived of field position, Treviso repeatedly infringed. Thomas however seemed only capable of kicking conversions and had missed two three pointers. The Scarlets starting kicking penalties to the corners. It was a tactic that succeeded, if not directly, as it kept them in the right part of the field.

Released Wales squad member Liam Williams added to the Scarlets tally. Patient build up play through the phases saw some quick ball for Thomas, who gave a short pass to Williams on the charge. He easily knocked a Treviso tackler aside and the 20 year old plunged over.

Thomas then kicked a penalty to extend the lead to 7 points.

At the hour mark, the Italians made a number of substitutions, International centre Gonzalo Garcia being one, but his first action was to tip Kieran Murphy on his backside in a ruck and was promptly yellow carded. Treviso seemed spurred on by this and another recent addition, Aaron Shingler tackled open side flanker Gonzalo Padro off the ball and joined Garcia in the bin. With the chance to press for a psychologically crucial try from the penalty five yards out that would have drawn the match even, Treviso inexplicably opted for the easy three pointer.

It was an error as the Scarlets clearly felt as if they had been left off the hook. They gained the field position and pressure on Treviso saw a penalty awarded. Thomas despite his earlier yips slotted impressively.

A try bonus point was sniffed. Liam Williams again epitomised their desire with impressive chasing of kicks and strong tackles, putting Treviso under pressure. It was another Liam though that sealed a scrappy game for the Scarlets. Liam Davies had replaced Gareth Davies at scrum half. An exaggerated point to line up some forwards for the short ball and the slightest of dummies later and the swift scrum half was over from 15 yards.

It was not a classic game. Strangely though, the Scarlets would have been delighted with the result - a try bonus point on a pig of a night, against a strong pack of forwards, and whilst playing badly. "The first quarter of an hour put a year or two on my life!" joked the Scarlets' head coach Nigel Davies; but it's a win which sees the Scarlets into fifth place in the league.

S4C Man of the match - Monoa Vosawai
My choice - Gareth Davies.

Scarlets:
15 Liam Williams
14 Lee Williams
13 Gareth Maule (c)
12 Adam Warren
11 Andy Fenby
10 Aled Thomas
9 Gareth Davies
1 Phill John
2 Emyr Phillips
3 Deacon Manu
4 Dominic Day
5 Damien Welch
6 Josh Turnbull
8 Kieran Murphy
7 Jonathan Edwards

Subs:
Craig Hawkins, Rhodri Jones, Peter Edwards, Lou Reed, Aaron Shingler, Liam Davies, Owen Williams, Vili Iongi.

Beneton Rugby Treviso
15 Ludovico Nitoglia
14 Benjamin De Jager
13 Tommaso Iannone
12 Andrea Pratichetti
11 Brendan Williams
10 Willem De Waal
9 Simone Picone
1 Ignacio Fernandez-Rou
2 Franco Sbaraglini
3 Pedro Di Santo
4 Enrico Pavanello
5 Valerio Bernabo
6 Monoa Vosawai
8 Marco Philipucci
7 Gonzalo Padro

Subs:
Enrico Ceccato, Augusto Allori, Carlo Fazzari, Benjamin Vermaak, Diego Vidal, Ezio Galon, Gonzalo Garcia, Alberto Di Bernado.