Preview: Scarlets v Dragons
The Scarlets host the Dragons on Saturday for the first Welsh derby of 2011 and the chance for the home side to remain in the top three.
The Scarlets host the Dragons on Saturday for the first Welsh derby of 2011 and it's a chance for the home side to remain in the top three.
A proud home team will be looking to put right their defeat last time out, a big loss at the Ospreys, and replicate some of the strong home form they have shown this season which has seen them fall just once in their eight games.
The Scarlets have a good record against the Dragons too, having done the double on the Men of Gwent in the last two seasons plus a victory earlier this season in a hard-fought contest at Rodney Parade at the end of September – making it five wins from their last five encounters.
And the faithful Parc y Scarlets crowd will get the chance to applaud a number of individual landmarks reached in the last two games – including hooker Ken Owen's 100th appearance (last week) for them and back-row Josh Turnbull's 50th appearance which he achieved out in Treviso on December 18..
It's a warm welcome back to the starting line-up for centre Jon Davies, whose will be looking to keep up his six out of six games try scoring record this season. Experienced front-rowers Iestyn Thomas and Phil John will bring a combined total of 373 appearances for the Scarlets on New Year's Day.
Scarlets fly-half Rhys Priestland will stand to reach his century points landmark in the Magners League this term (currently on 99 points) joining three others (Ian Keatley, Isa Nacewa, Dan Biggar) who have also exceeded 100 points.
Meanwhile,Tom Willis returns to captain the Dragons. Jason Tovey, Danny Lydiate, Will Harries and Luke Charteris all return to the starting line up following injury or illness.
Form: Scarlets have won their last five games against the men from Gwent, whilst Dragons only previous victory on Scarlets soil came on 1 September 2007. Scarlets conceded 60 points in a game for the first time at Ospreys on Monday, to end a four match unbeaten run in all competitions. Scarlets only defeat in their last eight encounters at Parc y Scarlets was 18-21 to Ospreys on 2 October. Dragons' fixture with the Blues on Monday fell foul of the inclement weather. Dragons have won three of their last four games in the Magners League, but have gained just one victory on the road in the competition since November 2009: 21-16 at Ospreys on 30 October.
The teams:
Scarlets: 15 Dan Newton, 14 Morgan Stoddart, 13 Gareth Maule, 12 Jon Davies, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Tavis Knoyle, 8 David Lyons, 7 Josh Turnbull, 6 Rob McCusker, 5 Jonny Fa'amatuainu, 4 Vernon Cooper, 3 Phil John, 2 Matthew Rees (capt), 1 Iestyn Thomas.
Replacements: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Rhodri Jones, 18 Simon Gardiner, 19 Damian Welch, 20 Ben Morgan, 21 Martin Roberts, 22 Regan King, 23 Lee Williams.
Dragons: 15 Will Harries, 14 Adam Hughes, 13 Tom Riley, 12 Ashley Smith, 11 Aled Brew, 10 Jason Tovey, 9 Wayne Evans, 8 Toby Faletau 7 Gavin Thomas, 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Scott Morgan, 4 Luke Charteris, 3 Ben Castle, 2 Tom Willis (c), 1 Hugh Gustafson.
Replacements: 16 Steve Jones, 17 Pat Palmer, 18 Scott Roberts, 19 Adam Jones, 20 Lewis Evans, 21 Pat Leach, 22 Jon Evans, 23 Matthew Jones
Date: Saturday, December 1
Kick-off: 18:30
Venue: Parc y Scarlets
Referee: Tim Hayes (Wales)
Assistant referees: James Jones (Wales), Hugh Watkins (Wales)
Television match official: Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)