Returning international stars Sean Lamont, Jon Davies, Martin Roberts, Deacon Manu all start back for the region after their autumn series and join up with senior Scarlets campaigners Simon Easterby and David Lyons as Nigel Davies shows serious intent for this crucial home tie in the Magners League.
Edinburgh lie in second place and despite a couple of injuries and opting to rest some of their key Scottish internationals, the Scarlets are well aware of the threat they pose.
World-class fly half Stephen Jones starts on the bench after playing such a big role on the Wales scene over the past month. Rising Scarlets star Rhys Priestland is given the opportunity to continue showing his growing stature and confidence in the number 10 shirt – after some impressive performances in the Scarlets last two games.
And the Scarlets’ North Wales newcomer Andy Fenby, a qualified chartered accountant who signed this season from Newcastle Falcons, gets a start on the wing after some eye-catching performances in November.
Davies said: “Andy has been playing well in the premiership and training well with us. In November, when he was given the opportunity to play in the region side, he did impress. He’s definitely starting to fulfill some of the promise we saw in him.”
On the selection Davies said: “This is a strong Scarlets side and we are aware of how important this game is. In its own right the Magners is a very competitive league particularly with the targeting of the top four play-offs – so you need to win your home games.
“But equally, we are leading into a crucial phase of European rugby with Leinster at home next weekend (Saturday 12th December).”
“We’ve had a good look at how much game time the players have had, their work loads and their training ages as well – which all comes into the mix when we’re making our decisions. Stephen has had a lot of cumulative game time – not only in the autumn series but also from his tour in the summer.
“”We would have adopted the same philosophy for this game with Matthew (Rees) had he been fit.”
Davies said: “It will be quite a game I’m sure, Edinburgh are flying high at the moment, they have played well in the league up until now and being in second place at the moment, they will expect to get a result here. They’ve got a lot of experience in the team they are bringing down despite a few injuries and resting a couple of key players.”
Davies added there would be some interesting encounters for the home crowd to witness including locks Dominic Day and Lou Reed coming up against former Scarlet Scott MacLeod.
He said: “Both sides will be looking to come away with strong performances because of the build-up to the following week; they like to try and play like we do and throw the ball around, so it should be an interesting encounter.”
Scarlets: 15 Daniel Evans, 14 Lee Williams, 13 Sean Lamont, 12 Jon Davies, 11 Andy Fenby, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Martin Roberts, 1 Iestyn Thomas, 2 Ken Owens 3 Deacon Manu, 4 Lou Reed, 5 Dominic Day, 6 Simon Easterby 7 Richie Pugh 8 David Lyons (captain).
Replacements; 16 Phil John, 17 Emyr Phillips, 18 Vernon Cooper, 19 Josh Turnbull, 20 Tavis Knoyle, 21 Stephen Jones, 22 Gareth Maule
