The West Walians started their final match of pre-season on the front-foot and were level at the break after Gareth Davies matched Willi Heinz’s score. But the Cherry and Whites pulled clear after the break thanks to tries from Henry Purdy, Jeremy Thrush and Mark Atkinson before Will Safe put the gloss on a powerful Gloucester performance.
Scarlets dominated the opening exchanges but were rocked back on their heels when former All Black Jeremy Thrush broke clear and fed Willi Heinz, who fended off a pair of defenders to score. The PRO14 champions continued to apply the pressure and were rewarded when Lewis Ludlow was shown yellow for pulling down a maul that was heading for the line.
They failed to make their man advantage count, but the breakthrough finally came three minutes before the break. Aaron Shingler burst clear and fed Scott Williams, who instead of running it in at the corner, looped a pass for Wales team-mate Davies to score at the posts.
But the hosts were back in-front three minutes after the restart when Purdy kicked ahead and managed to beat Jonny McNicholl to the ball to score at the corner. And things got worse for the West Walians five minutes later when Thrush punched a hole in the Scarlets defence to score form close range before Mark Atkinson went over from their next attack. And the game was up for Wayne Pivac’s men when Safe crashed over from close range before Rob Evans and Aled Davies struck late. And there was still time for a Matt Scott try at the death to make it 40-21.
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