Last ditch defence sees Scarlets to victory over Bath
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With Bath in possession looking to steal a victory from the jaws of defeat, Scarlets' defence stood firm to secure a narrow 23-19 win in the opening round of the Champions Cup at The Rec on Saturday afternoon.
Bath thought they had scored a winning try as they went on the charge from the restart following Halfpenny's penalty in the 76th minute but the Welsh fullback managed to get under the ball to hold it up as a pile of Bath bodies dived over the line.
The home side kept battering away at the Scarlets' defensively as the clock ticked two minutes into the red. Ben Spencer saw a half-gap and pounced but his stretch to ground the ball was short of the line and Scarlets held on.
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In his 200th game for the Scarlets, Gareth Davies got the ball rolling for the visitors before a stunning second-half score from Kieran Hardy earned Scarlets the victory. Bath scored tries through Ruaridh McConnochie and Will Stuart.
Bath drew first blood as Scarlets were caught offside before Spencer kicked the ball through the posts for the opening score.
Scarlets responded with a fantastic move with Davies crossing the whitewash after some fantastic ball movement, the crucial run and offload coming from Steff Evans.
Bath produced a stunning try of their own to re-take the lead with some excellent ball-handling from Sam Underhill, Jonathan Joseph and Zach Mercer allowed McConnochie to finish of a sensational Bath move.
OUTSTANDING interplay from @BathRugby 👏👏#HeinekenChampionsCup #BATvSCA
— Ultimate Rugby (@ultimaterugby) December 12, 2020
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Spencer added two more penalties, with Halfpenny replying with one of his own, to give Bath a 14-10 lead at half-time.
Scarlets started the second half brightly thanks to Halfpenny's second penalty and the arrival off the bench of Jonathan Davies. Bath soon replied with their second try, as prop Stuart was shoved over from close range.
The two sides traded blows before Hardy touched down almost under the posts after prop Rob Evans found a huge hole in the Bath backline and timed his offload to perfection.
Halfpenny's conversion nudged Scarlets 20-19 ahead with 13 minutes remaining, he added another with five minutes left.
From there Scarlets managed to hold Bath at bay to secure the victory.
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