Scarlets 28-8 Edinburgh: Champions ease past Richard Cockerill's 14 men
Last Updated: 23/09/17 10:31pm
Edinburgh prop Michele Rizzo was sent off as Scarlets sealed a 28-8 bonus point victory over Edinburgh in their Guinness PRO14 clash at Parc y Scarlets.
Rizzo saw red from referee John Lacey in the 46th minute after he smashed Scarlets scrum-half Gareth Davies' head at a ruck. That was the turning point in the contest which the home side won four tries to one.
Scarlets' tries came from Rhys Patchell, Gareth Davies, Werner Kruger and Aaron Shingler, with Leigh Halfpenny kicking all four conversions. Jason Harries scored Edinburgh's only try, with Duncan Weir adding a penalty.
Scarlets were boosted by British and Irish Lions centre Jonathan Davies making his first Scarlets start of the season. Davies' return saw Hadleigh Parkes move to inside centre in the only change to the side that lost 27-20 to Ulster.
Wales prop Samson Lee made his 100th appearance for Scarlets while Edinburgh made seven changes to the side that lost 20-17 to Treviso.
Scarlets took a 14-8 lead into half-time but the star of the first quarter was referee Lacey and his whistle. The Irish official gave little leeway to the attacking side at the breakdown with both sides conceding a string of penalties.
And it was not until the 20th minute when scrum-half Gareth Davies took a quick tap penalty that the opening score came, when Patchell was on hand to squeeze over the Edinburgh line.
Though the home side lost number eight John Barclay to a head injury, Scarlets began to impose themselves, with Patchell giving them useful territory with a couple of kicks to the corner.
In the 31st minute, Scarlets doubled their lead with a converted try for Gareth Davies, who ran in from 10 metres after good build-up work by the Welsh region. Halfpenny was successful with his second conversion.
But in the final five minutes Edinburgh came back into the contest. After Weir put over a penalty, captain Magnus Bradbury broke through before Harries ran straight through a gap to the line.
Patchell used crossfield kicks effectively as Edinburgh found themselves pinned in their 22. And it was close to Edinburgh's line where Italian prop Rizzo was given his marching orders.
From the resulting penalty and with an extra man, Scarlets claimed their third try with Kruger darting over after good work by captain Ken Owens.
The bonus point arrived in the 63rd minute when Shingler was on the end of team try with Edinburgh unable to deal with Scarlets' quick passing.
