Scarlets boosted by Johnny McNicholl comeback

Adam Kyriacou
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There are two matches scheduled in the PRO14 on Sunday as Round Four kicks off with the Dragons against Munster and Scarlets hosting Edinburgh.

Dragons v Munster

Matthew Screech will make his 150th appearance for Dragons when they face Munster at Rodney Parade.

Second-row Screech hits his major milestone while hooker Richard Hibbard will also make his 150th appearance – this time in the PRO14 – in the home clash with the unbeaten Irish province.

Boss Dean Ryan makes a total of five changes to the side that lost out at Ulster last time out.

Centre Jamie Roberts returns in the 12 jersey to partner Adam Warren while there is also a recall for Josh Lewis – who plays at full-back – and wing Owen Jenkins.

Prop Brok Harris plays at loosehead and packs down alongside Hibbard and Lloyd Fairbrother.

The final change is a call-up for back-row Ben Fry who plays at blindside flanker. Harrison Keddie moves across to openside.

Four changes among the replacements see Conor Maguire, Aaron Jarvis and Dafydd Howells all named alongside Ben Carter who could make his league debut for Dragons.

Meanwhile, there are seven changes to the Munster side that recorded victory against Cardiff Blues in Thomond Park on Monday.

Fresh from making his PRO14 debut, academy prop Josh Wycherley makes his first start this time around, as he and Keynan Knox, making his first appearance of the campaign, scrum down either side of hooker Kevin O’Byrne.

Jean Kleyn joins captain Billy Holland in the engine room, while in the back-row Chris Cloete takes his place at openside with last week’s try scorers Jack O’Donoghue and Gavin Coombes retaining their places.

Scrum-half Craig Casey, who starts his fourth successive game, is paired up with JJ Hanrahan in the half-backs this week.

Rory Scannell makes the positional switch to outside centre and in doing so frees up the number 12 shirt for Damian de Allende to come in.

The final change to the back three sees Matt Gallagher start at full-back with Calvin Nash and Darren Sweetnam on the wings.

The teams:

Dragons: 15 Josh Lewis, 14 Owen Jenkins, 13 Adam Warren, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Ashton Hewitt, 10 Sam Davies, 9 Rhodri Williams (c), 8 Ollie Griffiths, 7 Harrison Keddie, 6 Ben Fry, 5 Matthew Screech, 4 Joe Davies, 3 Lloyd Fairbrother, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Brok Harris
Replacements: 16 Ellis Shipp, 17 Conor Maguire, 18 Aaron Jarvis, 19 Ben Carter, 20 Taine Basham, 21 Tavis Knoyle, 22 Jack Dixon, 23 Dafydd Howells

Munster: 15 Matt Gallagher, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Rory Scannell, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Darren Sweetnam, 10 JJ Hanrahan, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 Chris Cloete, 6 Jack O’Donoghue, 5 Billy Holland (c), 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Keynan Knox, 2 Kevin O’Byrne, 1 Josh Wycherley
Replacements: 16 Diarmuid Barron, 17 James Cronin, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Thomas Ahern, 20 Tommy O’Donnell, 21 Nick McCarthy, 22 Jake Flannery, 23 Jack O’Sullivan

Venue: Rodney Parade
Kick-off: 14:00 GMT
Referee: Ben Blain
Assistant referees: Dan Jones, Aled Evans
Television match official: Jon Mason

Scarlets v Edinburgh

Johnny McNicholl returns from injury as the Scarlets continue their PRO14 challenge against Edinburgh at Parc y Scarlets.

McNicholl damaged his ankle in the Challenge Cup quarter-final defeat in Toulon last month, but has recovered to take his place in a Scarlets side showing five personnel changes from the hard-earned win over Benetton last weekend.

The Wales international slots in at full-back in a back three that also contains Tyler Morgan — who switches from centre — and Steff Evans.

Captain Steff Hughes partners Paul Asquith in midfield, while Angus O’Brien and Dane Blacker continue at half-back.

In the front-row, Taylor Davies comes in for the injured Marc Jones at hooker, while there is an all-new second-row pairing of Josh Helps and Morgan Jones.

Helps has recovered from a rib issue to make his first PRO14 appearance of the campaign, while Jones will make his first start in the competition after having his red card from the Benetton game rescinded. Jones replaces Tex Ratuva who is on international duty with Fiji.

There is also a reshuffle in the back-row. In the absence of Blade Thomson, who features for Scotland against Wales on Saturday, Sione Kalamafoni returns to his favoured number eight spot and Uzair Cassiem shifts across to blindside flanker.

Meanwhile, Scotland internationals Nick Haining and Mark Bennett both return to the Edinburgh starting line-up this weekend.

The Scotland duo are named at number eight and outside centre respectively as head coach Richard Cockerill makes five changes to the side that slipped to defeat against Connacht last weekend.

Henry Pyrgos – who skippers the side – gets the nod at scrum-half, while tighthead prop Murray McCallum make his first start of the season after featuring from the bench six days ago.

George Taylor starts on the wing with Fijian international Eroni Sau unavailable for selection due to the birth of his child.

Elsewhere, new signing Andries Ferreira is named among the replacements with the South African lock set to make his Edinburgh debut if called upon.

The teams:

Scarlets: 15 Johnny McNicholl, 14 Tyler Morgan, 13 Steff Hughes (c), 12 Paul Asquith, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Angus O’Brien, 9 Dane Blacker, 8 Sione Kalamafoni, 7 Jac Morgan, 6 Uzair Cassiem, 5 Morgan Jones, 4 Josh Helps, 3 Javan Sebastian, 2 Taylor Davies, 1 Phil Price
Replacements: 16 Dom Booth, 17 Rob Evans, 18 Werner Kruger, 19 Jac Price, 20 Ed Kennedy, 21 Will Homer, 22 Dan Jones, 23 Tom Prydie

Edinburgh: 15 Jack Blain, 14 George Taylor, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Chris Dean, 11 Jamie Farndale, 10 Jaco van der Walt, 9 Henry Pyrgos (c), 8 Nick Haining, 7 Ally Miller, 6 Magnus Bradbury, 5 Andrew Davidson, 4 Lewis Carmichael, 3 Murray McCallum, 2 Mike Willemse, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 David Cherry, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 WP Nel, 19 Andries Ferreira, 20 Connor Boyle, 21 Charlie Shiel, 22 Nathan Chamberlain, 23 James Johnstone

Venue: Parc y Scarlets
Kick-off: 18:45 GMT
Referee: Chris Busby
Assistant referees: Nigel Owens, Rhys Jones
Television match official: Wayne Davies

 

Dragons