Dwayne Peel challenged his Scarlets players to back up their big home win over Leinster by making history in South Africa over their final two games in this season’s BKT United Rugby Championship.
And they responded magnificently to notch their first win over one of the big four South African franchises as they triumphed 32-19 over the Lions at Ellis Park in Johannesburg.
It was a win that featured two first half tries from Wales full back Blair Murray and saw his side pick up a priceless bonus-point as they jumped up to sixth place in the table with one game left to play. Their success pushed Cardiff down to ninth place and currently out of the quarter final running.
Murray went over for Scarlets’ first two scores and, although the hosts responded through scrum-half Nico Steyn’s touchdown, the visitors led 17-7 at half-time. The victory in the end made it four wins in a row for Peel’s men.
A Sam Costelow drop goal soon after the restart extended the Scarlets lead before outstanding back row man Taine Plumtree made it 25-7 with a third try. The home side hit back with two tries in the space of 11 minutes from right wing Richard Kriel to cut the gap to six points.
The fourth and all-important try came from Wales centre Johnny Williams to ensure a full-house of points and a shot at a quarter-final place next week against the Stormers.
It was a performance that saw the Scarlets put in 145 tackles to keep the Lions at bay. There was also room for improvement in that they only converted four of their 13-line breaks into tries.