The Stormers maintained their unbeaten home record in the United Rugby Championship after outscoring the Llanelli Scarlets by 52-40 on Saturday.

The Cape franchise also maintained their perfect record against the Welsh outfit with their sixth straight win against them.

It wasn’t as clear-cut as the scoreline suggested, with the visitors being inspired by a superb performance by 18-year-old Carwyn Leggatt-Jones and a Joe Roberts hat-trick. The Scarlets refused to go away and pushed the men from the Cape right until the final whistle.

The hosts opened the scoring on the 10-minute mark through Zachary Porthen, shortly after John McKee received a yellow card. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu hooked his conversion wide but made no mistake six minutes later after smartly setting up Haashim Pead with a behind-the-back reverse pass to give the hosts a 12-0 lead.

The Scarlets dug in and managed to catch the Stormers off guard to pull back a seven-pointer with a few seconds left on the yellow card. Joe Roberts got his side back in the game with his first of the afternoon.

The home side were front-footed in the minutes that followed but just seemed to lack a bit of cutting edge. Ntuthuko Mchunu extended the lead for the home side in the 27th minute – the hosts executing a well-worked lineout set piece which has served them well so far this season. Mchunu looked uncomfortable after dotting down due to an awkward landing in the grounding of the try.

Loan Jones and Leggatt-Jones combined with some silky skills to bring the score to 14-12 with 10 minutes to play. The hosts managed to head into the break with a 33-14 lead with two quick scores through Seabelo Senatla, and then Deon Fourie after the hooter sounded.

The Scarlets started the second half with two quick strikes to bring themselves within five points inside the opening seven minutes, with the game wide open at 33-28.

A big break in play for a head injury to Macs Page allowed both sides to hit the reset button – thankfully the 21-year-old was able to walk off the field of his own accord.

The hosts enjoyed a spell of dominance after the restart and got their reward when Olly Reid crashed over the line in the 55th minute. Scarlets skipper Josh McLeod hit back with a try four minutes later, reducing the gap to seven points. Joe Roberts blew the game wide open with a stunning solo move to round off his hat-trick, levelling matters up at 40-40 with 14 minutes to play.

Despite being disrupted by injuries and HIA’s, the hosts pressed forward. A tap-and-go inside the Scarlets’ 22 moved through three phases, which led to Warrick Gelant setting up Yaqeen Ahmed for his first try right between the sticks – just eight minutes to play.

Stormers' persistence paid off as Ahmed marked his second appearance with his second score in the space of six minutes. The visitors lost the ball on the attack at a crucial moment, with Leolin Zas kicking and chasing before the ball popped up kindly for Ahmed. Feinberg-Mngomezulu missed the conversion, but the result was already wrapped up at 52-40 – outscoring the Welsh side by eight tries to six.

Never miss a major story. Get breaking news and the latest developments from South Africa and beyond as they happen.

More in Sport