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Scarlets host Glasgow Warriors in the European Champions Cup on Saturday: 19:45 kick-off
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The Welsh region make nine changes and two positional switches to the side who were thumped by the Warriors in Scotland last weekend.
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Glasgow make just two changes ahead of their 100th match in the competition
Scarlets have Canadian international wing-wizard DTH van der Merwe back for their European Champions Cup clash with Glasgow after he was forced to miss the side’s last game with a thumb injury.
The 29-year-old was forced to sit and watch his former side Glasgow, who he is the all-time top try-scorer for, stroll to a 43-6 victory with Taqelen Naiyaravoro grabbing a hat-trick when the two met up in the reverse fixture last weekend.
Van der Merwe won the Guinness PRO12 with the Warriors last season before moving to Wales, with Naiyaravoro replacing him at Scotstoun.
The Scarlets sit top of the PRO12 with eight wins from their opening nine games but their Champions Cup hopes are all but over after three successive losses in the opening three rounds of the competition.
Head coach Wayne Pivac has made nine changes and two positional switches to the Welsh Regions starting XV.
Steff Evans starts at full-back to form a back three with Michael Collins and Van der Merwe while 21-year-old flanker Jack Condy makes his first Scarlets start.
Captain Emyr Phillips is one of four unchanged positions along with scrum-half Gareth Davies, flanker Lewis Rawlins and number eight Morgan Allen.
Meanwhile, Glasgow’s hand starts to Scotland duo Finn Russell and Mark Bennett but fullback Stuart Hogg is a notable absentee from the match-day 23.
Tommy Seymour wears the No 15 shirt with Sean Lamont named on the wing against his former club.
Prop Alex Allan makes his first start since October while Rob Harley comes into the back-row alongside Josh Strauss and Simone Favaro.
Lee Jones is also on the bench fresh from being named Impact Player of the Tournament in Cape Town for the World Rugby Sevens where Scotland won the Bowl, beating England in the Final.
“Last weekend was a great result for the club but we know Scarlets will be determined to bounce back and we’ll be in for a tough battle,” said Warriors head coach Gregor Townsend.
“It’s a very important game and we’ll be aiming to improve on our performance from the home tie.”
KEY STATS
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Glasgow Warriors managed to buck the trend and win their first ever match against Scarlets (L4) in the Champions Cup when they won 43-6 last weekend
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This will be the Glasgow Warriors’ 100th match in the Champions Cup (W32, D2, 65)
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The Warriors’ win over Scarlets in round 3 was their biggest ever win in the Champions Cup, beating their previous best by 10 points
BETTING ODDS
Scarlets 7/4, Draw 28/1, Glasgow 1/2
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Scarlets: DTH van der Merwe
The one-cap Australian international was at his rip-roaring best last weekend against Scarlets as he picked up a quickfire, and spectacular, hat-trick. He could have had more, but the treble was a justified reward for his manful effort throughout the game and he will try take this form and ability into this weekend’s reverse fixture.
Glasgow: Taqele Naiyaravoro
Scarlets: 15 Mike Collins, 14 Steff Evans, 13 Gareth Owen, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 DTH van der Merwe, 10 Aled Thomas, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Morgan Allen, 7 Jack Condy, 6 Lewis Rawlins, 5 Maselino Paulino, 4 Jake Ball, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Emyr Phillips (c), 1 Rob Evans.
Replacements: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Rhodri Jones, 19 George Earle, 20 Tom Price, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Steven Shingler, 23 Harry Robinson.
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Tommy Seymour, 14 Taqele Naiyaravoro, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Mike Blair, 8 Josh Strauss, 7 Simone Favaro, 6. Robert Harley, 5 Jonny Gray (c), 4 Leone Nakarawa, 3 Sila Puafisi, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Alex Allan..
Replacements: 16 Shalva Mamukashvili, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Ryan Wilson, 21 Grayson Hart, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Lee Jones.
Date: Saturday, December 19
Venue: Parc y Scarlets
Kick-off: 19:45 GMT
Referee: Pascal Gauzère (France)
Assistant Referees: Maxime Chalon (France), Jean-Luc Rebollal (France)
TMO: Bruno Bessot (France)