Todaro the hat-trick hero as Saints book home tie by beating spirited Scarlets

The Welsh side were full of fight throughout the encounter as, even after falling 33-14 down during the second period, they threatened a comeback.

Saints were made to work for their bonus-point win, which proved to be enough for them to leapfrog Bristol Bears and finish second in Pool 4.

That means they will play their first European knockout encounter of this season at home, having claimed three bonus-point wins from their four pool-stage matches.

Todaro was the hat-trick hero and the player of the match as the Italy ace helped his side to overcome a tough first half, in which they had twice fallen seven points behind.

Saints moved into a 19-14 lead thanks to Todaro's third try, which came from the final play of the first half, and Phil Dowson's men looked to be out of sight when Ollie Sleightholme and Craig Wright added to their tally after the break.

But Scarlets kept battling and they bagged a try bonus point of their own as their two second-half tries brought them back to just five points down.

However, Anthony Belleau slotted a penalty to settle the nerves with four minutes to go, and the icing was on the cake when Callum Chick dived over with the clock in the red.

Belleau converted and there was a roar of relief and delight around the Gardens as Saints put the seal on the win and second spot in the pool, securing a home tie in the process.

Dowson's men had gone into the game knowing a win would be enough for them after Union Bordeaux Bègles had won at Bristol Bears earlier in the day.

But Scarlets, who had lost all three of their pool matches and are sitting bottom of the United Rugby Championship, looked eager to upset the odds as they made a strong start to the match, retaining the ball in impressive fashion to put Saints under pressure inside their own 22.

When the black, green and gold did finally get some possession, Alex Mitchell attempted to clear but his kick was charged down and hooker Ryan Elias was on hand to score for Scarlets.

Sam Costelow converted and the noisy travelling support had even more reason to cheer as they continued to engage in a decibel battle with the Saints fans on the terrace.

Saints looked to have produced an immediate response but James Ramm's effort was ruled out for what the referee felt was a forward pass from Tommy Freeman, though it looked marginal at best.

Scarlets then threatened to land a sucker punch, racing away on the break before Ellis Mee secured his side a 50:22.

Saints were under pressure again before a lengthy delay as Jake Ball recovered from a collision after he had tried to power towards the home line.

It wasn't quite clicking for the home side, who were trying to move the ball at speed but coming face to face with a Scarlets defence who went with them at every step.

However, the Welsh side were starting to give away more penalties, handing Saints a platform inside the away 22, and eventually they took advantage as Mitchell's pass found Todaro, who dived over to start the scoring for his side.

Belleau added the conversion in tidy fashion to level things up and Saints looked to kick on, but it was Scarlets who would score next thanks to some magic from Mee, who weaved his way towards the line before offloading to the onrushing Archie Hughes for a fine try.

Costelow converted well from the right touchline and the away fans were in full voice again as their side continued to play with real fire and desire.

Saints had bossed the scrum battle from the start, though, and they were picking up penalties in that area, giving them welcome field position.

And eventually Scarlets paid the price for their persistent offending as loosehead prop Kemsley Mathias was sent to the sin bin following the concession of yet another scrum penalty.

Saints immediately opted for another scrum as they sought to turn the screw, and they finally made the pressure pay as Todaro collected a bouncing Freeman pass and then sidestepped the final defender in fine fashion to score in the right corner.

Belleau missed the conversion to leave Saints two points behind with three minutes to go before the break.

Saints were desperate to go in at half-time with a lead, and after Ramm's direct run and offload, Todaro put his team ahead, diving over for his hat-trick try.

Belleau added the extras, putting Saints 19-14 up at the interval.

No further inroads could be made by the black, green and gold early in the second half as the 14 men of Scarlets refused to suffer any further blows before Mathias returned from the sin bin.

Saints finally got into their second-half stride 10 minutes into it as they engineered a rapid move to the left, where Sleightholme collected the pass and sped home to score a brilliant bonus-point try.

Belleau converted and the lead was now 12 points as both sides utilised their replacements in a bid to add some extra energy to an attritional affair.

It was Saints' replacement hooker who notched their fifth try of the game as hooker Wright used a powerful lineout drive to help him over the line.

Belleau converted expertly to make it 33-14 with 20 minutes to go, but Scarlets, as they had throughout the match, refused to go quietly, responding through a try from Costelow, who also added the conversion to cut the gap to 12 points with more than 12 minutes to go.

Nerves really started to jangle when Scarlets bagged a cleverly-worked bonus-point try, with Costelow chipping over the top and Jac Davies gathering before diving over the line.

Costelow converted and Saints' lead was reduced to just five points.

Belleau brought some relief as he slotted a penalty with four minutes remaining, despite the Scarlets supporters singing loudly as he lined the kick up.

Saints pushed on the finish the job as Chick made the most of a spell of pressure on the Scarlets line, diving over in delight.

Belleau slotted the conversion as Saints celebrated completing their mission at a sold-out Gardens.

Saints: 15 James Ramm (George Hendy 52); 14 Edoardo Todaro, 13 Tommy Freeman, 12 Fraser Dingwall (c), 11 Ollie Sleightholme; 10 Anthony Belleau, 9 Alex Mitchell (Archie McParland 60); 1 Emmanuel Iyogun (Danilo Fischetti 52), 2 Robbie Smith (Craig Wright 52), 3 Trevor Davison (Elliot Millas Mills 48); 4 Chunya Munga, 5 JJ Van Der Mescht (Tom Lockett 61); 6 Josh Kemeny, 7 Sam Graham (Callum Chick 63), 8 Henry Pollock.

Scarlets: 15 Jac Davies; 14 Ellis Mee, 13 Eddie James, 12 Joe Hawkins (Macs Page 52), 11 Blair Murray; 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Archie Hughes (Gareth Davies 48); 1 Kemsley Mathias (Alec Hepburn 45), 2 Ryan Elias (Marnus van der Merwe 48), 3 Henry Thomas (Harri O'Connor 55); 4 Max Douglas, 5 Jake Ball (Jarrod Taylor 8); 6 Taine Plumtree, 7 Josh Macleod (c) (Dan Davis 73), 8 Fletcher Anderson.

Referee: Kevin Bralley (France)