Edinburgh enhanced their United Rugby Championship play-off prospects as they ran in six tries to claim a 43-18 bonus-point victory over Scarlets at Hive Stadium.
The visitors led at the break as they sought a first win outside of Wales for 15 months before Edinburgh moved up through the gears in the second half to win comfortably.
The victory lifts Sean Everitt’s side into eighth place although, with three other sides also on 39 points, still work to do before a play-off place can be confirmed.
Scarlets, already out of post-season contention, landed the first score of an eventful contest after pinching an Edinburgh line-out.
The forwards took them close to the line before Vaea Fifita made a one-handed pass to Tom Rogers who scored in the corner, with Sam Costelow adding the extras.
Edinburgh drew level through a piece of magic from Wes Goosen. The full-back was fed by James Lang and sold a perfect dummy before strolling over the line for a try that Ben Healy converted.
Costelow sent Scarlets back in front with a massive penalty from the halfway line before the visitors stretched their lead by capitalising on another Edinburgh error.
Ali Price’s attempted box kick was blocked by Sam Lousi and Alex Craig’s hack forward fell perfectly for Gareth Davies to scoop up the ball and cross the line as the visitors established a 15-7 half-time lead.
Everitt changed his entire front row at the interval to try to get Edinburgh going and they soon earned their second try of the contest.
Price atoned for his earlier error by teeing up Duhan van der Merwe with a switch pass and the winger was able to run unimpeded to the line for a try
Healy converted and then added a further three points from the tee to send Edinburgh in front for the first time in the match.
Scarlets rallied and another Costelow penalty saw the lead change hands once again.
Some incredible defence on the Scarlets line kept Edinburgh at bay for phase after phase before the ball went wide for Healy to tee up Matt Currie to score under the posts. Healy’s conversion sent the home side six points in front.
Scarlets looked beaten by that point and Pierre Schoeman bulldozed his way over the line for the fourth try that earned Edinburgh the bonus point.
With the visitors wilting, the home side added two more tries, with Matt Bennett benefiting from a fortunate ricochet to dot down before a terrific team move concluded with Bill Mata weaving his way through to score.
Scorers:
Edinburgh: Tries: Wes Goosen, Duhan van der Merwe, Matt Currie, Pierre Schoeman, Mark Bennett, Viliame Mata. Conversions: Ben Healy (5). Penalty: Ben Healy.
Scarlets: Tries: Tom Rogers, Gareth Davies. Conversion: Sam Costelow. Penalties: Sam Costelow.
Teams
Edinburgh: 15 Wes Goosen, 14 Matt Currie, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 James Lang, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Ben Healy, 9 Ali Price, 8 Viliame Mata, 7 Luke Crosbie, 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Grant Gilchrist (c), 4 Jamie Hodgson, 3 Javan Sebastian, 2 Dave Cherry, 1 Boan Venter. Replacements: 16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Pierre Schoeman, 18 WP Nel, 19 Marshall Sykes, 20 Connor Boyle, 21 Ben Vellacott, 22 Cammy Scott, 23 Chris Dean.
Scarlets: 15 Ioan Nicholas, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Johnny Williams, 12 Eddie James, 11 Tomi Lewis, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Vaea Fifita, 7 Dan Davis, 6 Taine Plumtree, 5 Sam Lousi, 4 Alex Craig, 3 Sam Wainwright, 2 Ryan Elias, 1 Kemsley Mathias. Replacements: 16 Shaun Evans, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Harri O’Connor, 19 Morgan Jones, 20 Carwyn Tuipulotu, 21 Archie Hughes, 22 Dan Jones, 23 Ryan Conbeer.
