Wales U20 outside half Carwyn Leggatt-Jones will get his second start in the BKT United Rugby Championship when he teams up with Archie Hughes at half back in Edinburgh on Friday night (27 February – 7.45pm).
The 18-year-old has already seen action against the Dragons and Benetton Rugby and last weekend was helping Wales to beat Scotland in the U20 Six Nations at the Arms Park.
While he plays during the down week in the U20 Championship, the Scarlets have also had skipper Josh Macleod and wing Tommy Rogers released back to them from Steve Tandy’s senior Wales squad. Macleod will lead the team in Edinburgh.
“We have had a good block of training where we have put a lot of work in, focusing a bit more on what I call our DNA and how we want to play,” explained Scarlets interim director of rugby, Nigel Davies.
“We know Edinburgh are one of the quickest starters in the URC, so those first 30 minutes are going to be key for us – how we manage the game and our accuracy is going to be really important.
“They are also a side who pride themselves on their scrum and line-out and that is the challenge for our pack to go and take the game to Edinburgh. With only 10 points between us and eighth place in the table, this is another massive game for us.”
Joe Roberts and Macs Page will join Leggatt-Jones in the midfield, while Jac Davies gets another run at full back. Up front, there are three changes to the pack with Kemsley Mathias coming into the front row and Jake Ball behind himin the second row.
Former G;loucester and England U20 full back Ioan Jones is in line to make his URC debut off the bench after recently recovering from injury.
Jones, a summer arrival from Gloucester, is poised to make his URC debut having recently recovered from injury.
“There are a lot of younger players who maybe haven’t had opportunities who are going to be involved in these next few games. I’m excited to see how they go over the coming weeks,” added Davies.
Round 12 will be the URC’s Origin Round with players wearing socks from the club, school and college that played a major role in their rugby journey.
Edinburgh: Harry Paterson; Malelili Satala, James Lang, Mosese Tuipulotu, Wes Goosen; Ross Thompson, Ben Vellacott; Boan Venter, Harri Morris, D’arcy Rae, Marshall Sykes, Glen Young, Ben Muncaster, Dylan Richardson, Magnus Bradbury (captain)
Reps: Jerry Blyth-Lafferty, James Whitcombe, Ollie Blyth-Lafferty, Callum Hunter-Hill, Connor Boyle, Charlie Shiel, Cammy Scott, Piers O’Conor
Scarlets: Jac Davies; Tom Rogers, Macs Page, Joe Roberts, Tomi Lewis; Carwyn Leggatt-Jones, Archie Hughes; Kemsley Mathias, Marnus van der Merwe, Henry Thomas, Jake Ball, Sam Lousi, Max Douglas, Josh Macleod (captain), Fletcher Anderson
Reps: Harry Thomas, Alec Hepburn, Harri O’Connor, Jac Price, Jarrod Taylor, Dane Blacker, Ioan Jones, Gabe McDonald