Scarlets are in the quarter-finals of the European Challenge Cup after seeing off a resilient Brive side at a rain-soaked Parc y Scarlets.

French side Clermont Auvergne - who won at Bristol on Friday night - now lie in wait at home next weekend in what promises to be another occasion to remember for the Scarlets faithful.

It wasn’t pretty at times, with the sodden conditions hampering Scarlets’ free-running handling game, but Dwayne Peel’s side are made of tough stuff and were able to do enough to claim a 19-7 victory thanks a wonder try from player of the match Vaea Fifita, a late score from Aaron Shingler and nine points from the boot of fly-half Sam Costelow.

To their credit, Brive - bottom of the Top14 - made the home side battle all the way to the final whistle, but the Scarlets did just that to maintain their unbeaten run in 2023 and make it eight wins from nine matches in all competitions.

Scarlets dominated the opening period and should have been further ahead at the break, but all they had to show for their efforts was three penalties from the boot of Costelow.

In a night borrowed from monsoon season, the greasy conditions made handling treacherous and despite creating a number of first-half scoring opportunities, Scarlets were unable to cross the whitewash.

The home side had flown out of the blocks and were rewarded with an early penalty from Costelow. Brive then found themselves down to 14 men when full-back Nic Krone was yellow carded for an illegal challenge on Ryan Conbeer after the winger had chipped ahead.

Costelow extended the lead with a superb 40-metre strike and soon after Brive had another man in the bin when skipper Said Hireche was carded for pulling back Steff Evans close to the visitors’ line. The officials checked for a potential penalty try, but adjudged the infringement only warranted a penalty.

Scarlets continued to press, but continued to be frustrated as Brive dug in defensively.

A third Costelow from straight in front made it 9-0, but the fly-half then had to leave the field after taking a bump on the leg early on. He was replaced by Rhys Patchell.

The half ended with another Scarlets opportunity after a breakout by Fifita, but the French side were able to get back and win a penalty. 

Scarlets started the second period as they did the first, exerting pressure on the visitors’ defence, which was proving a tough nut to crack.

But on 47 minutes a vocal Parc y Scarlets was stunned into silence when Brive broke from deep and fly-half Stuart Holding chipped over the top and showed good pace to win the race to the touchdown. Olding converted to make it a two-point game.

With his side needing a spark, the ignition switch was pressed by the mercurial Fifita.

The Tongan international picked up at a ruck on halfway, raced clear, then swerved around the final defender to cross in the corner for one of the best individual tries of the season.

Patchell was wide with the conversion, but the Scarlets held a 14-7 lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

They had to dig deep, however;  skipper Josh Macleod leading from the front with a superb turnover in the shadow of his own posts.

That lifted the crowd off their feet and with Sosban Fach ringing around the stadium, Scarlets wrapped up the game and their place in the last eight when Aaron Shingler stretched out to score from close range in the final minute.