Scarlets claim courageous draw against Benetton in URC opener

Macs Page scored on his first United Rugby Championship appearance

United Rugby Championship: Benetton v Scarlets

Benetton (12) 20

Tries: Ratave 2, Smith Cons: Umaga Pen: Umaga

Scarlets (7) 20

Tries: Page, Taylor Cons: Lloyd 2 Pens: Lloyd 2

Scarlets claimed a courageous 20-20 draw out in Treviso after Benetton missed a last-minute conversion.

Dwayne Peel's side had been hit by illness and injury in the build-up, but threatened to pull off an upset against a side which made last year’s United Rugby Championship (URC) play-offs.

Scarlets led up until the 79th minute and despite a huge defensive effort, Onisi Ratave squeezed over to level the scores.

Jacob Umaga had the opportunity to win the match with the conversion, but he pulled his effort from the touchline.

The draw was nothing less than Scarlets deserved in what was a stern opening test against a team with a growing reputation in the competition.

Peel, who only amassed five league wins throughout the 2023-2024 season, was without a number of players and had to reshuffle his side before kick-off with Sam Costelow taken ill.

Ioan Lloyd, who had been due to start at centre, came in at fly-half with Johnny Williams moving up from the bench.

Scarlets looked to have got off to a dream start on the 10 minute mark, when Vaea Fifita picked up from the base of the ruck and stormed down field before finding summer signing Blair Murray in support.

But Murray would have to wait for his first competitive try as replays showed Fifita’s foot had been illegally in front of the ball.

Benetton then had a chance of their own when they turned down a kickable penalty in favour of a driving lineout.

Scarlets did well to initially repel the maul, but they were exposed when the ball was shipped out wide, only for Louis Lynagh to knock on.

Centre stage for Page

The pressure continued to mount and Ratave made no mistake on the opposite wing, diving over flamboyantly after Scarlets had been sucked in.

Benetton extended their lead on 30 minutes, Ratave once again proving a threat, and while Scarlets attempted to run the ball from deep, the defence was unable to reorganise and strong carries from Malakai Fekitoa and Mirco Spagnolo freed up space for Rhyno Smith to go over.

Scarlets had defended for most of the half, but were lifted with a superb break from league debutant Macs Page, who impressed for Wales Under-20s last season, unfortunately he could not find Williams in support.

But moments later, the teenager took a delayed pass from Ellis Mee and carved up the defence, repelling two tackles to go under the posts and reduce the deficit to a single score going in at the break.

Scarlets almost got back level when full-back Smyth fumbled a kick through soon after the re-start.

Taine Plumtree spotted Murray out in space and chipped over, but the wing skidded into touch before grounding the ball.

Sensing a change in momentum, Benetton took the opportunity to add to their tally when a penalty was on offer, and despite missing the first attempt, Umaga got another chance after Scarlets were penalised for charging down the kick.

Scarlets were then dealt a penalty of their own, which they kicked to touch to set up a driving lineout.

Alex Craig and Jarrod Taylor broke away, with Taylor wriggling out of the tackle to ground the ball. Lloyd nailed the touchline conversion to bring Scarlets back to within a point.

Lloyd was lining up the ball again on the hour mark and despite the distance being on the limit of his range, the ball crept over to put the visitors in the lead as the game transformed.

Scarlets almost extended their lead 15 minutes from time, captain Gareth Davies picked up the ball from the scrum and caught everyone napping when he dashed down the blindside. The scrum-half was brought down illegally which allowed Lloyd to once again slot over from the tee.

Benetton then threw everything at Scarlets' try-line in the dying minutes and while the red wall heroically repelled wave after wave of attack, it came at a cost with Fifita suffering a worrying looking injury.

With penalties mounting, Benetton kept plugging away and eventually chose to ship the ball out wide to Ratave, but the try came at the cost of the conversion.

Benetton: Rhyno Smith; Louis Lynagh, Malakai Fekitoa, Marco Zanon, Onisi Ratave; Jacob Umaga, Andy Uren; Mirco Spagnolo, Siua Maile, Nahuel Tetaz, Scott Scrafton, Eli Snyman (capt), Alessandro Izekor, Manuel Zuliani, Toa Halafihi.

Replacements: Marco Manfredi, Destiny Aminu, Riccardo Genovese, Riccardo Favretto, Sebastian Negri, Alessandro Garbisi, Leonardo Marin, Paolo Odogwu.

Scarlets: Tom Rogers; Ellis Mee, Macs Page, Johnny Williams, Blair Murray; Ioan Lloyd, Gareth Davies (capt); Kemsley Mathias, Marnus van der Merwe, Sam Wainwright, Alex Craig, Max Douglas, Taine Plumtree, Jarrod Taylor, Vaea Fifita.

Replacements: Ryan Elias, Sam O’Connor, Gabe Hawley, Jac Price, Carwyn Tuipulotu, Efan Jones, Charlie Titcombe, Jac Davies.

Referee: Ian Kenny (SRU)

Assistant referees: Fillipo Russo (FIR), Franco Rosella (FIR)

TMO: Dave Sutherland (SRU).