A first victory on South African soil since the four South African franchises were introduced to the competition in 2021 came at the perfect time for Dwayne Peel’s side, who are now up to sixth with just one round to play.
A first-half double from Blair Murray put the West Wallians in the ascendancy in the early stages, despite losing Sam Lousi to an early yellow card.
The Wales wing clinical in execution to find gaps in some early wayward defending from the hosts.
The second, in particular, a classy finish after slick play between fellow Wales back Ellis Mee and veteran scrum-half Gareth Davies saw centre Joe Roberts send through Murray for his 10th try of an impressive first season with the region.
The Lions fought back into the contest after Scarlets lost both Davies and captain Josh Macleod to injury to reduce the deficit.
A score from scrum-half Nico Steyn from close-range after a sustained spell of pressure before fly-half Sam Costelow’s drop goal on the stroke of half-time made it a ten-point lead at the break for the visitors.
It would be more neat attacking play after the restart with Costelow and Murray combining to feed number eight Taine Plumtree to burst free to extend the visitors’ advantage and into a seemingly comfortable position.
But two quick scores from Lions wing Richard Kriel into the corner as the game started to open up led to a tense finale between the two sides.
It would be a nail-biting finish as Scarlets pushed for a winning score but got over the line with Vaea Fifita’s break making space for centre Jonny Williams to jog under the posts to earn the all-important fourth, and bonus point try.
Costelow landed a late long-range kick to finish the contest as a jubilant Scarlets bench celebrated both a long-awaited win against a Springbok nation away from Wales and five vital points.
The victory puts Peel’s side two points clear of the chasing pack in the URC table before they face a crunch final fixture against fourth-placed Sharks on Saturday evening.
Scarlets XV:
Blair Murray, Tom Rogers, Joe Roberts, Johnny Williams, Ellis Mee, Sam Costelow, Gareth Davies
Alec Hepburn, Marnus van der Merwe, Henry Thomas, Alex Craig, Sam Lousi, Vaea Fifita, Josh Macleod (captain), Taine Plumtree.
Replacements:
Ryan Elias, Kemsley Mathias, Sam Wainwright, Dan Davis, Jarrod Taylor, Archie Hughes, Ioan Lloyd, Macs Page.
[Lead image: Scarlets Rugby]
