DWAYNE Peel's first game as Scarlets head coach ended in a romp against Championship side Nottingham as 22-year-old winger Ryan Conbeer stated an early claim with a pre-season hat-trick.
The nine-try victory showcased the attacking rugby former Wales scrum-half Peel wants to bring to Llanelli and if the rest of his tenure is like this, Scarlets fans should have some fun.
Conbeer's treble was the headline, but there was also a stunning two-try display from young scrum-half Archie Hughes while wing Steffan Evans grabbed a brace too.
“It was great for everyone to have our first match at home and for the fans to be back – it's been a long time coming and tough for the players not to have them,” said Peel.
“They saw some tries so they'll be happy going home. It was rusty at the start and the first half wasn't particularly great, but it was important for some of the players to taste rugby again.
“Steffan has looked great in pre-season and did some good stuff for us. It will be a different team for us against Leicester on Thursday and we are still trying to develop our style of play.
“Archie was very good, full of running, and his support lines were there.”
Scarlets led only 19-7 at the break thanks to scores from Corey Baldwin, Conbeer and Shaun Evans after Nottingham had crossed first.
But in the second half Peel's men found their groove. Conbeer completed his treble and Steffan Evans – who has slipped out of the Wales picture – looked lively.
Scrum-half Hughes, from Tenby, lit up the game late on and he was responsible for the game's standout moment when he turned down what would have been a certain hattrick.
Instead, he passed to Conbeer to complete his treble when he could surely have scored himself.
Scarlets fly-halves Dan Jones and Sam Costelow kicked the rest of the points to add to their team's nine tries.
Nottingham fly-half Sam Hollingsworth grabbed the game's first try and ended up with two of his own as well as three conversions.
Lewis Barrett also crossed for the visitors.
Nottingham head coach Craig Hammond said: “It was a tough place to come to, but to play in front of a good crowd here was amazing.
“I thought our guys fronted up really well because we struggled up front a little bit against Coventry last week.
“There was some good stuff, but a few errors meant we were punished by the Scarlets.”
■By ALEX BYWATER
