Jonathan Evans scored a try in each half as in-form Scarlets withstood a late fightback from Zebre to claim a bonus-point 31-24 win in the Guinness PRO12 match in Parma.

Evans, Aaron Shingler and DTH van der Merwe all crossed in the first half for the Welsh visitors with Rhys Patchell adding the conversions after Zebre had taken the lead thanks to an early drop goal and penalty by Carlo Canna.

Canna added a second drop goal midway through the first half but the Scarlets were free-scoring and Aled Thomas and Evans added two more tries within the first 10 minutes of the second half.

Tries from Dries van Schalkwyk and Giovanbattista Venditti in the last quarter of the game saw Zebre rally, with Canna adding a conversion and penalty, but it was not enough for the Italians who fell short.

Scarlets remain fourth in the overall standings after claiming a seventh successive PRO12 win while Zebre stay in the bottom two but having earned a losing bonus point.