Among the many reasons that the Scarlets and Zebre find themselves propping up the BKT United Rugby Championship table is that the Welsh region have won only one of their last six matches and the Italian’s have been beaten in their last 10.
So, when they clash at Parc y Scarlets on Friday night (20 March – 7.45pm) it could well determine which side ends up occupying last place in the table this season. The Scarlets are currently four points ahead of Zebre in 16th and four points behind the Dragons in 14th .
On a more positive note, the Scarlets are unbeaten in their last six URC matches against Italian opposition and Zebre haven’t won in Wales since they beat the Dragons at Rodney Parade in November 2019.
And of the 18 games between the two teams in the tournament Zebre have yet to post a win, their best result being a 16-16 draw in October 2013.
“There have been obvious frustrations with how the last two games against Edinburgh and Connacht have gone because I felt we were in positions in both matches to push on and get more out of them,” said Davies.
“Last weekend in Galway, Connacht won the gain line battle, and we also weren’t clinical enough when we got into the red zone, but we have had a good week working on the skills we need to deliver in those areas and hopefully we can deliver a result against a very capable Zebre side.
“It’s been great to have our Wales boys back with us, they are in good spirits, and I am also looking forward to playing at home again, The crowd were fantastic for us in our last home game against Ulster and hopefully they can come out and support in their numbers again on Friday night,”
TEAMS
Scarlets: Blair Murray; Tom Rogers, Macs Page, Johnny Williams, Ellis Mee; Carwyn Leggatt-Jones, Archie Hughes; Kemsley Mathias, Ryan Elias, Archer Holz, Sam Lousi, Max Douglas, Jarrod Taylor, Josh Macleod (captain), Fletcher Anderson
Reps: Marnus van der Merwe, Henry Thomas, Gabe Hawley, Jac Price, Dan Davis, Dane Blacker, Joe Hawkins, Ioan JonesZebre Parma: Mirko Belloni; Albert Eisten Batista, Marco Zanon, Damiano Mazza, Simone Gesi; Giacomo Da Re, Gonzalo Garcia; Paolo Buonfiglio (captain), Giampietro Ribaldi, Enrique Pieretto, Matteo Canali, Alessandro Ortombina, Bautista Stavile, Iacopo Bianchi, Giacomo Ferrari
Reps: Giovanni Quattrini, Juan Manuel Pitinari, Ion Neculai, Davide Ruggeri, Davide Odiase, Thomas Dominguez, Martin Roger Farias, Giulio BertacciniReferee: Peter Martin (Ireland)