Reebok Regional Preview U20

However, the Scarlets, who have Hugh Gustafson back at loose head after injury, will fancy their chances of using home advantage to consolidate their position in the table. Having lost their opening game of the campaign 26-23 to the Blues, the Scarlets bounced back in emphatic style three weeks ago when they hammered the Dragons 35-5 at Caerphilliy’s Virginia Park.

That result left them on level points with the Ospreys who made up for their 25-18 loss against the Blues by beating the Dragons 10-3 in their rearranged game last week. Sam Kiley captains the side from the second row once again, but the Ospreys will be looking to their prolific backs Lee Halfpenny and Luke Hathaway to put one over on their rivals.

In the other game, at Rodney Parade, the Dragons play host to the Blues who have surprised everyone this season, at all three levels. They kicked off their U20 campaign with a scrambled 26-23 success at the Scarlets and then followed up by beating the Ospreys 25-18 last time out.

High Performance Manager for the Blues region Gafyn Cooper said: “It has been a decent start for all three teams, but we need to keep showing that consistency. I think we are developing nicely, but there are no such thing as easy games in this competition, so tonight’s examination will be just as hard as the other two games have been.”

Scarlets: D Evans; S Martin, R Thomas, R Williams, G Jones; S Morris, J James;  H Gustaffson, T Slater, E Phillips, H Pugh, A Bell, J Turnbull, N Cudd, L Phillips. Replacements: M Fisher, J Griffiths, E Morgan, R Morgan, C Jones, A Jenkins, A Banfield

Ospreys: L Hathaway; J Howells, J Pike, N Harwood, L Halfpenny; R Lewis, R Webb; R Bevington, M Breeze, L Elliot, J Richards, K Maiden, L Jones, L Sims, S Kiley (capt). Replacements: T Cole, T Williams, D Thomas, N Roberts, P Price, R Lawrence, N White

Blues: K Baller; G Jones, M Edwards, T Cooper, J Egan; L Ford, R Dyer; N Eaves, JA Fowler, P Palmer, Groves (capt), J Cullen, A Wilson, M Larsen. Replacements: T Isaac, T Daly, C John, D Matthews, J Bull, S Thomas, M Way