by Ben Jones
Date: Saturday, January 30 2021
Venue: Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli
Time: 19:35 PM
THE CHAMPIONS are in town as they face a much-changed Scarlets side hoping to return to winning ways after two consecutive losses.
It’s been two weeks that the Scarlets want to forget about after consecutive losses to their Welsh rivals, the Cardiff Blues.
First, a controversial fixture against the Capital region which saw Wales and Lion, Liam Williams, red carded in a 29-20 loss was then followed by 13-10 loss at home last weekend.
Leinster are coming off the back of two wins in a row against their Irish rivals, Ulster and Munster. The PRO14 Champions did have a shock loss to Connacht at the beginning of January.
The Irish outfit have beaten the other three Welsh regions convincingly so far, and haven’t conceded more than seven points in each game, whilst putting up 40 and 35 against the Blues and Dragons respectively.
Scarlets and Leinster were supposed to meet in December of last year but the game was postponed due to Covid.
The last meeting between the two sides came way back in January 2019 where Leinster came away with a 22-17 win at the RDS Arena.
The Scarlets boast a much-changed side this weekend due to their Welsh players preparing for the Six Nations.
20 year-old Sam Costelow is handed the number ten jersey for the first time as he joins just four players who have retained their place from the loss to the Blues last time out.
Another is Johnny McNicholl who has switched from winger to full-back, replacing Leigh Halfpenny who is on duty with Wales. Ryan Conbeer returns to the starting XV, partnering Tom Prydie on the wing.
Phil Price and Marc Jones join Javan Sebastian on the front row, who recently signed a contract extension with the Scarlets. Uzair Cassiem will make his 50th Scarlets appearance as he replaces Sione Kalamafoni at number eight after the Tongan suffered a concussion against the Blues.
On the bench is 19 year old Carwyn Tuipulotu. Should he come off the bench, he will become the latest product off the Scarlets academy conveyor belt and follow in the footsteps of others who have made their senior PRO14 debut.
Leinster welcome the return of Irish international, Tadgh Furlong after the prop has been on the sidelines and hasn’t made an appearance since January of last year.
Max O’Reilly is in at full-back, making only his second appearance for the champions whilst there is also a potential Leinster senior debut for 19 year old Jamie Osbourne.
Winger Dave Kearney has recovered from a minor hamstring injury that kept him out of the Munster game, joining second rower Dan Leavy to return from injury.
Scarlets head coach, Glenn Delaney, said that he was excited to see what his much-changed side can bring to the game against Leinster.
“This game has provided an opportunity for guys who haven’t been playing these last few weeks and that is bringing new energy and excitement to the group. Our job is to make sure they are free and are able to express themselves.
“When you play Leinster you have to make sure you remain in the contest to give yourself a chance to execute. We know they are the form horse, they have been for a number of years and they have plenty of depth. It is an opportunity to have a crack at them and we are excited by it.”
Leinster head coach Stuart Lancaster had this to say about the fixture against the Scarlets to the clubs official Twitter.
“Obviously it’s great that we’ve lost 17 players and Ireland have gone into camp. For us, we see it as a real opportunity for the next generation of players coming through, now.
“I really enjoy these blocks to be honest because you’ve got this really hungry group of young players who missed out on Ireland selection who want to prove a point.”
SCARLETS: 15) Johnny McNicholl; 14) Tom Prydie, 13) Tyler Morgan, 12) Steff Hughes (C), 11) Ryan Conbeer; 10) Sam Costelow, 9) Dane Blacker; 1) Phil Price, 2) Marc Jones, 3) Javan Sebastian, 4) Morgan Jones, 5) Sam Lousi, 6) Blade Thomson, 7) Dan Davis, 8) Uzair Cassiem
Replacements: 16) Taylor Davies, 17) Kemsley Mathias, 18) Werner Kruger, 19) Tevita Ratuva, 20) Carwyn Tuipulotu, 21) Will Homer, 22) Angus O’Brien, 23) Paul Asquith.
Unavailable because of injury: Sione Kalamafoni (concussion), Steff Evans (leg), Lewis Rawlins (neck), Tomi Lewis (knee), Dylan Evans (shoulder), Samson Lee (concussion), Jac Morgan (knee), Tom Rogers (knee), Pieter Scholtz (hamstring), Rob Evans (concussion), James Davies (concussion), Aaron Shingler, Rhys Patchell.
Unavailable because of international duty: Ken Owens, Wyn Jones, Ryan Elias, Jake Ball, Josh Macleod, Kieran Hardy, Gareth Davies, Jonathan Davies, Johnny Williams, Liam Williams, Leigh Halfpenny.
LEINSTER: 15) Max O’Reilly; 14) Cian Kelleher, 13) Liam Turner, 12) Ciarán Frawley, 11) Dave Kearney; 10) Harry Byrne, 9) Luke McGrath (C); 1) Peter Dooley, 2) James Tracy 3) Tadhg Furlong, 4) Ross Molony, 5) Ryan Baird, 6) Josh Murphy, 7) Dan Leavy, 8) Jack Conan
Replacements: 16) Seán Cronin, 17) Ed Byrne, 18)Tom Clarkson, 19) Jack Dunne, 20) Scott Fardy, 21) Hugh O’Sullivan, 22) David Hawkshaw, 23) Jamie Osborne.
