They may be missing much of their back division on Wales duty, but the Scarlets will have a pack that is getting much closer to full strength when they welcome Glasgow Warriors to Parc y Scarlets for their Round 6 clash in the BKT United Rugby Championship.
Back for his first outing of the season is former skipper and Wales hooker Ryan Elias, while current captain Josh Macleod is back in league action for the first time since the opening game of the season.
Add in Max Douglas and new recruit Fletcher Anderson into the back row mix and Dwayne Peel’s side looks better equipped to take on the former URC champions as they attempt to end a run of six successive league defeats.
“It is the start of a massive block of matches for us and it is important we start picking up points. We are obviously disappointed with four losses from four, but I thought we took a step forward in South Africa and we need to keep building momentum,” said Peel.
“We got overpowered in the Stormers game, we weren’t at our best against Munster, but we were better in South Africa. Having leaders like Josh and Ryan back is massive for us.
“Although we are missing five backs, it gives an opportunity to some exciting young home-grown players in the squad. I’m excited to see how they go.
“It’s good that we’ve got Eddie James back to partner Macs Page in the centre. Jac Davies and Tomi Lewis played well in the friendly at Harlequins last week and Iori Badham gets a debut on the wing
“Glasgow are a top four side, they will have had a lot of players away with Scotland, but they have a lot of depth in their squad. They like to play attractive football and if you don’t keep on top of them they can run riot.”
While the 20-year-old Badham is set to start on his URC debut, there are two more youngsters waiting on the bench to get their first starts. Llandovery College captain Carwyn Leggatt-Jones, who turned 18 last week, is one of them, along with Gabe McDonald.
Bath lock Harvey Cuckson is back on a short loan spell to help boost the second row options. He is also on the bench backing up Jake Ball and Sam Lousi.
Glasgow, currently sitting in third, have won on their last seven visits to Wales in all competitions and have won the last three against the Scarlets.
Scarlets v Glasgow Warriors
Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli – KO 19.45 IRE & UKReferee: Chris Allison (SARU, 5th league game)
Live on: S4C, Premier Sports, URC.tv
Scarlets: Jac Davies; Iori Badham, Macs Page, Eddie James, Tomi Lewis; Sam Costelow, Gareth Davies; Kemsley Mathias, Ryan Elias, Archer Holz, Jake Ball, Sam Lousi, Max Douglas, Josh Macleod (captain), Fletcher Anderson
Reps: Marnus van der Merwe, Sam O’Connor, Henry Thomas, Harvey Cuckson, Dan Davis, Dane Blacker, Carwyn Leggatt-Jones, Gabe McDonaldGlasgow Warriors: Josh McKay; Kyle Rowe, Ollie Smith, Stafford McDowall (captain), Kerr Johnston; Dan Lancaster, Ben Afshar; Jamie Bhatti, Johnny Matthews, Patrick Schickerling, Alex Craig, Jare Oguntibeju, Gregor Brown, Angus Fraser, Macenzzie Duncan
Reps: Gregor Hiddleston, Nathan McBeth, Sam Talakai, Max Williamson, Alex Samuel, Ally Miller, George Horne, Adam Hastings