Cardiff 19 – 25 Scarlets: Gareth Davies brace secures Welsh derby win for Scarlets
10/13/2024 12:23 PM
By Matt Priest
A brace from Gareth Davies and a Johnny Williams try on his 50th cap was enough for Scarlets to leave the Welsh capital with their first victory of the season despite three yellow cards.
A slow opening five minutes saw both sides try and get into the game, but a sloppy kick from Gareth Davies and then one from his opposition number Ellis Bevan gave both teams opportunities to attack in their opposition 22 but neither team were able to capitalise.
Ioan Lloyd opened the scoring with a penalty kick in the 9th minute after a breakdown penalty allowed the Scarlets fly-half an easy kick right in front of the posts.
An early yellow card for Scarlets saw the team from Llanelli reduced to 14 men after Sam Lousi was judged to have crocodile rolled his opponent at the ruck, allowing Cardiff to get out of their own 22 and pour some pressure on the visiting Scarlets.
Scarlets didn't let the numerical disadvantage dampen their bright start to the game however, when Lloyd added another penalty to his tally for the afternoon in the 16th minute after Dan Thomas was too eager from the breakdown resulting in him being found offside.
Cardiff finally made the most of their extra man advantage when an offload from Dan Thomas allowed winger Harri Millard to break the line and score directly under the posts for the first try of the game. Tinus De Beer made the extras putting the hosts in front 24 minutes into the first half.
Davies put the visitors back in front 33 minutes in after a set of strong forward runs from the Scarlets pack allowed the Welsh scrum half to dive over the try line off the back of a ruck. Lloyd missed the extras putting the score at 11-7 to the Scarlets, six minutes before the half.
Millard got his second of the game right on the half time mark giving the Blue and Black's a one-point lead going into the break. Sheedy missed his first attempt at the posts meaning the score at half time remained 12-11.
The second half started just as the first half did when a miskick from Scarlets scrum half Davies saw the hosts pile on the pressure, but they were not able to capitalise on their trip inside the visitors ten metre line with any points.
Davies made up for his earlier blunder when he dove over for his second try of the game 48 minutes in after a silky line break from Lloyd and an offload just as flashy provided his half back partner with an easy score. Lloyd was able to kick the extras meaning Scarlets had a six-point lead with just over half an hour remaining.
Scarlets added to their lead on the hour mark as Johnny Williams went over to score the visitors third try of the game on his 50th cap after a lovely no look pass allowed for the Scarlets centre to ease in for the score. Lloyd got the extras increasing the visitors lead to 13 points.
An intentional knock on from Scarlets' winger Tom Rogers saw the visitors go down to 14 men once more, and Cardiff were quick to capitalise with a penalty try under the posts, the visitors ill discipline cost them again when captain Josh Macleod was sent to the sin bin for dissent just a minute after Rogers was sent to the bin.
Cardiff thought they had retaken the lead 71 minutes in but a superb last man tackle by Blair Murray forced Gabriel Hamer-Webb into touch keeping the Llanelli side in front with only 13 men on the field.
The Scarlets defence stood strong in the final 10 minutes overcoming their two-man disadvantage thwarting every attack Cardiff through at them, meaning the Llanelli outfit travelled back to west Wales with the spoils.
Cardiff Rugby
Tries: 3 (Millard 23' 40' Penalty- try 66')
Conversions: 1 (De Beer 24')
Penalties: 0
Yellow cards: 0
Red cards: 0
15. Cam Winnett 14. Mason Grady 13. Rey Lee-Lo 12. Ben Thomas (captain) 11. Harri Millard 10. Tinus De Beer 9. Ellis Bevan 1. Ed Byrne 2. Efan Daniel 3. Keiron Assiratti 4. Josh McNally 5. Teddy Williams 6. Ben Donnell 7. Dan Thomas 8. Alun Lawrence
Replacements
16. Daf Hughes (25') 17. Danny Southwark (64') 18. Rhys Litterick (53')19. Mackenzie Martin (66')20. James Botham (66') 21. Aled Davies (62') 22. Callum Sheedy (39') 23. Gabriel Hamer-Webb (66')
Scarlets Rugby
Tries: 3 (Davies 33' 48' Williams 60')
Conversions: 2 (Lloyd 48' 60)
Penalties: 2 (Lloyd 9' 16')
Yellow cards: 3 (Lousi 13' Rogers 66' Josh Macleod 67')
Red cards: 0
15. Ioan Nicholas 14. Tom Rogers 13. Johnny Williams 12. Eddie James 11. Blair Murray 10. Ioan Lloyd 9. Gareth Davies 1. Kemsley Mathias 2. Marnus Van Der Merwe 3. Henry Thomas 4. Sam Lousi 5. Max Douglas 6. Josh Macleod (captain) 7. Dan Davis 8. Taine Plumtree
Replacements
16. Ryan Elias (57') 17. Alec Hepburn (57') 18. Sam Wainwright (64') 19. Alex Craig (70') 20. Carwyn Tuipulotu 21. Efan James 22. Sam Costelow (71') 23. Macs Page
Five talking points:Cardiff 19 – 25 Scarlets
1) Scarlets first win of the season – Scarlets were able to avenge the defeat they suffered at the hands of Cardiff at Parc Y Scarlets earlier this season with their first win of the campaign in front of a sold-out Cardiff Arms Park of 12,125 people.
2) Back-to-back defeats for Cardiff – Cardiff's bright start to the season has seemingly been halted after a blowout defeat to Glasgow last week and another defeat against their Welsh rivals today means they fall further down the URC table.
3) Scarlets' ill-discipline – Scarlets will be looking to improve on their disciple before their next encounter, three yellow cards, including one to captain Josh Macleod, saw the Llanelli team down to 13 men at the tail end of the game, fortunately for Dwayne Peel's side the hosts were unable to make the most of this opportunity.
4) Johnny Williams scores on his 50th cap – The Welsh centre would be over the moon with the outcome of his 50th cap, the winning try and a win away from home against Cardiff. The afternoon couldn't have gone much better for Williams.
5) Cardiff unable to make the most of their chances – The side from the Welsh capital will be feeling bitterly disappointed with the outcome of the game, constant pressure inside the Scarlets' 22 but the Blue and Black's were unable to maximise their numerical advantage.
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