Scarlets captain Jonathan Davies scored twice in his side’s 54-14 hammering of the Kings in Llanelli on Saturday. DYLAN JACK reports.
In his first competitive start in 11 months, centre Davies hit the ground running as, along with his brace, he also set up the bonus-point try for the Scarlets in an excellent all-round performance.
The visitors started well, testing the Scarlets defence with ball in hand, with wing Bjorn Basson grabbing a brace, but it was all in vain as the home side dominated them in the second half.
The hosts opened the scoring when Davies went over in the corner before doubling their lead minutes later when Paul Asquith handed off a tackler and ran in for the Scarlets’ second.
The Kings then hit back when, after a maul took them close, scrumhalf Godlen Masimla found Basson with a spiralling wide pass.
Davies then ran a terrific line on to a pop pass from Sam Hidalgo Clyne to slice through the Kings defence for his second.
The visitors had the final say of the half as some great hands from Harlon Klassen allowed Basson to run free out wide for his second.
The hosts sealed the bonus point early in the second half, as Davies broke through and offloaded to Ioan Nicholas to finish, before two powerful mauls produced two further tries, with debutant flank Dan Davies and replacement prop Simon Gardner both adding to the scoreboard.
Replacement backs Stef Evans and Kieran Hardy added tries to bring up the half-century and complete the rout.
Scarlets – Tries: Jonathan Davies (2), Paul Asquith, Ioan Nicholas, Dan Davies, Simon Gardner, Stef Evans, Kieran Hardy. Conversions: Rhys Patchell (5), Angus O’Brien (2).
Kings – Tries: Bjorn Basson (2). Conversions: Masixole Banda (2)
Scarlets – 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Johnny McNicholl, 13 Jonathan Davies (c), 12 Paul Asquith, 11 Ioan Nicholas, 10 Rhys Patchell, 9 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 8 Blade Thomson, 7 Dan Davis, 6 Ed Kennedy, 5 David Bulbring, 4 Jake Ball, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Ryan Elias 1 Wyn Jones.
Subs: 16 Marc Jones, 17 Phil Price, 18 Simon Gardner, 19 Tom Price, 20 Uzair Cassiem, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Angus O’Brien, 23 Stef Evans.
Kings – 15 Masixole Banda, 14 Yaw Penxe, 13 Harlon Klassen, 12 Berton Klassen, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Martin du Toit, 9 Godlen Masimla, 8 Ruaan Lerm, 7 Andisa Ntsila, 6 Henry Brown, 5 JC Astle, 4 Bobby de Wee, 3 Luvuyo Pupuma, 2 Michael Willemse (c), 1 Schalk Ferreira.
Subs: 16 Alandre van Rooyen, 17 Justin Forwood, 18 Rossouw de Klerk, 19 Schalk Oelofse, 20 CJ Velleman, 21 Rudi van Rooyen, 22 Ntabeni Dukisa, 23 Tristan Blewett.
Photo: Athena Pictures/Getty Images
