The veteran Tongan international second-row’s return to fitness will be a massive boost to Peel’s side searching for their first victory of the season.
Having started on the front-foot in both the draw with Benetton and in the 24-15 loss to Cardiff last Friday night before losing leads in the second period, the leadership qualities of the wily veteran lock could be just the tonic to kick start the west Wallians season.
Two points from the opening rounds would have been tough to take for the Welsh region as they look to better last season’s disappointing campaign finish of 13th. Signs of progress and progression, however, were evident to be seen in attacking intent but poor accuracy and execution in key moments would cost the Scarlets dear in both outings.
Up next comes free-flowing and third-placed Connacht, the Irish region who are the top points scorers after the opening rounds.
A narrow defeat by Munster was followed by a thrilling bonus-point win over the Hollywood Bets Sharks last time with the Irish scoring an impressive ten tries over the two outings.
Peel will know his side will need to tighten up on their discipline and error count this time around against the Irish outfit to build on recent positive starts.
After missing several opportunities against Cardiff whilst in the ascendency, the former Wales scrum-half admitted that to turn starts into points his side must execute more effectively on the night.
“It was a disappointed group coming in on Monday, but it was a case of four days, and we go again,” said Peel.
That is the beauty of the sport, yes, you have your disappointment, but you are quickly into the next week.
“There was also plenty in the game that we can see where we are improving. We just weren’t accurate in execution, and we can work on that as coaches.
“We showed we have resilience and fight, and we need to build on that.
“We parked the review pretty swiftly and we were into Connacht.”
The Scarlets will be without Vaea Fifta and Archie Hughes, who join the likes of long-term injured trio Tomi Lewis, Steff Evans and Joe Roberts but will have Lousi available along with Sam Costelow and Ioan Lloyd who have shaken off knocks.
“There will be a few tweaks, but on the whole, I don’t envisage many changes,” continued Peel. It is about managing the squad while keeping as much consistency as we can.
“It is one big training day and a lighter week in many ways. From my perspective, and the team’s perspective there is something good about having a short week.
“He [Lousi] is always a big player for us. His skillset is different to many second rows out there.
“You can see he has played a lot of rugby league with his off-loading game out of contact and his presence is big as well in the group. He doesn’t say much but he does carry that gravitas that he is a leader in the group.
“He was almost there last week, we could have rolled the dice and played him, but he had a few injuries last season, so we wanted to make sure when he did come back, he is there to stay. Managing him coming back is important for us.
“Both Sam [Costelow] and Ioan [Lloyd] are available for selection, so it is good to have those back. They are key players and have been very influential over the last couple of seasons.
“Both have trained hard and trained fully so I expect them to be in the mix come Thursday.
“We know Connacht’s DNA is to play with good structure, good shape and with ball in hand. They have power up front and are difficult to break down.
“It was an entertaining game in Galway last season and I’m expecting the same between two highly competitive sides. I’m looking forward to that challenge.”
[Lead image: Scarlets Rugby]
