Sarries ease past Scarlets
Matt Stevens made his comeback to competitive rugby as Saracens recorded a convincing 34-7 victory over the Scarlets.
Last Updated: 29/01/11 9:54pm
Matt Stevens made his comeback to competitive rugby following a two-year ban for drug taking as Saracens recorded a convincing 34-7 victory over a young Scarlets side in their LV= Cup clash at Parc y Scarlets.
Former England prop Stevens entered the fray as a 48th minute replacement, but by that stage his side had already gone a long way to sealing victory.
However, despite this resounding defeat, Scarlets can still qualify for the semi-finals if they beat the Newport Gwent Dragons next week.
Scarlets headed into the fixture without the services of no fewer than 20 first-team players because of Wales call-ups and injury, while Saracens fielded a host of recognised players most notably Scotland flanker Kelly Brown.
The Londoners were unable to get on the board in the early stages despite holding the edge in the scrum and having the better of the territory, while Steve Shingler - who joins London Irish at the end of the season - missed the first of three long-range penalties for the Scarlets in the first-half.
Owen Farrell also came up short with his own 50-metre effort just before the Scarlets came desperately close to opening the scoring when Ben Morgan got over the line but failed to ground the ball.
It proved costly as for much of the rest of the half Saracens were able to pin the Welsh region back in their own half.
Floodgates opened
First Farrell kicked a penalty goal from in front of the posts after Brown was impeded at a ruck and, just before the interval, winger James Short jinked his way down the right touchline for the opening try after collecting a chip ahead from Alex Goode.
That score proved the opening of the floodgates as the second half became a one-sided affair with Saracens scoring four unanswered tries in the space of 18 minutes to put the match to bed by the hour mark.
First lock Hayden Smith was put in from short range by scrum-half Kevin Barrett, the pacy Ben Ransom then raced over with his first touch before hooker Jamie George rumbled over the line unopposed for the bonus point try.
The Saracens scoring spree came to an end when wing Noah Cato touched down after the visitors made quick use of line-out ball.
The Scarlets were not helped by being forced to put a hooker and a prop on the field in place of the injured No8 David Lyons and lock Damian Welch, but they did scorer a consolation try through hooker Emyr Phillips 11 minutes from time.