Pro12: Scarlets 51-5 Benetton Treviso

DTH van der Merwe scored a hat-trick as Scarlets ran in eight tries to thrash Treviso and move up to fourth in the Pro12 table.

Canada international van der Merwe crossed to give Scarlets an early lead while Steff Evans scored soon after.

Van der Merwe scored his second of the evening before Ken Owens crossed over on his 200th Scarlets appearance.

Evans and Tom Price touched down either side of the break while van der Merwe completed his hat-trick late on.

Captain Owens enjoyed the perfect return from his 200th Scarlets game as he sealed their bonus point in the first half, almost 11 years after making his debut appearance for the region.

Van der Merwe, who will move to Newcastle Falcons next term, capped off a fine return to the starting line-up with his three-try haul while Evans' brace of tries helped ensure Scarlets leapfrogged Ulster into fourth in the Pro12.

Francesco Minto scored a second-half consolation for the Italians, who were comprehensively outplayed on a warm spring night at Parc y Scarlets.

Treviso's task got even harder when they had Federico Zani, Minto and Edoardo Gori sent to the bin within six minutes just after the hour mark.

Scarlets made their three-man advantage count as van der Merwe scored a third try before Aled Davies joined an burgeoning scoresheet.

Scarlets: Johnny Mcnicholl, DTH van der Merwe, Hadleigh Parkes, Scott Williams, Steff Evans, Dan Jones, Gareth Davies; Rob Evans, Ken Owens (captain), Samson Lee, Jake Ball, Tadhg Beirne, Aaron Shingler, James Davies, John Barclay

Replacements: Emyr Phillips, Wyn Jones, Werner Kruger, Tom Price, Josh Macleod, Aled Davies, Aled Thomas, Liam Williams

Treviso: David Odiete, Angelo Esposito, Tommaso Benvenuti, Alberto Sgarbi, Luca Sperandio, Ian McKinley, Tito Tebaldi; Federico Zani, Luca Bigi, Tiziano Pasquali, Filippo Gerosa, Dean Budd (captain), Francesco Minto, Marco Lazzaroni, Robert Barbieri

Replacements: Ornel Gega, Alberto Porolli, Simone Ferrari, Marco Fuser, Teofilo Paulo, Abraham Steyn, Edoardo Gori, Luke McLean

Referee: Andrew Brace (IRFU)

Assistants referees: Stuart Gaffikin (IRFU), Gareth Newman (WRU)

TMO: Olly Hodges (IRFU).