Wales hooker Ryan Elias is back in the starting XV for the Scarlets clash against Glasgow tomorrow afternoon after recovering from a hamstring problem. He is joint in a complete overhaul of the front row with Wyn Jones and Sam Wainwright.
Alex Craig after his impressive performance against Benetton last time out continues with Sam Lousi in the second row. The flanks are also unchanged with Teddy Leatherbarrow partnered by powerful veteran Tongan Sam Lousi, with international teammate Vaea Fifita at eight.
With Johnny Williams picking up a knock in training, Eddie James comes in to partner Jonathan Davies at centre.
Kieran Hardy is preferred to Gareth Davies at scrum-half to make his 100th appearance for the region, with Ioan Lloyd his half-back partner, moving from full-back in Sam Costelow’s absence.
In a reshuffle of the back division, Ioan Nicholas comes in at full-back with Tom Rogers and Tomi Lewis keeping their places on the wings.
Wing Steff Evans misses out totally in the 23 and is set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines with the Achilles injury he picked up late on against Benetton.
Head coach Dwayne Peel speaking ahead of the match said:
“We know Glasgow are a really good side, their DNA is that they want to play with high speed of ball, but they have also developed a forward pack who can muscle up.
“It is going to be a big challenge, but we are going in off the back of a good win last weekend and we want to continue that momentum, especially being at home in front of our own fans.”
Scarlets XV to play Glasgow:
15 Ioan Nicholas, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Eddie James, 11 Tomi Lewis, 10 Ioan Lloyd, 9 Kieran Hardy
1 Wyn Jones, 2 Ryan Elias (captain), 3 Sam Wainwright, 4 Alex Craig, 5 Sam Lousi, 6 Teddy Leatherbarrow, 7 Dan Davis, 8 Vaea Fifita.
Replacements:
16 Shaun Evans, 17 Memsley Mathias, 18 Harri O’Connor, 19 Morgan Jones, 20 Carwyn Tuipulotu, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Dan Jones, 23 Ryan Conbeer
[Lead image: Scarlets Rugby]
