Taine Plumtree is relishing his return from injury as Scarlets go head to head with play-off chasing Cardiff in front of a bumper crowd at Parc y Scarlets on Saturday (17:30).
The Wales international back-rower makes his comeback from a shoulder injury suffered against Scotland in during the Six Nations as West meets East in round 15 of the BKT United Rugby Championship.
“The return to play was always Cardiff,” he said. “It was a goal to make sure I was going to be fit for this game and I’m looking forward to what comes on Saturday. I am excited to be back after a couple of months out.
“Thankfully, the shoulder didn’t need surgery and I was able to make the back end of the season.”
Scarlets may be out of the play-off race, but that hasn’t dampened motivation for an exciting run-in.
“There’s four massive games left for us,” added Taine.
“We have Cardiff, who are the best Welsh side on the table coming to our home turf and we want to get the win for our fans, for ourselves, to get some momentum heading into next season.
“Then we have the Bulls, who are obviously a class side who we were able to get one over last year; the Ospreys speaks for itself, then our last game of the season is here against a new Dragons side, which has been awesome for Welsh rugby, but another side we want to beat.
“There’s a level of excitement we have in our prep every week, even when it’s not a derby, but specifically this week, you know what’s coming. You can tell in our training days the boys are really switched on and we are getting clear messages from our leaders, from our players, coaches and management that we are bringing into our sessions.
“Even though we are out of contention (for the play-offs), we take this as seriously as any other game and winning these derbies always feels a little better than just winning a usual game.”
Cardiff are currently sixth in the URC standings and will be aiming to avenge a home loss to the Scarlets in December.
Taine added: “We are aware of their threats, particularly around the breakdown, if they have a good day there, it will make it hard for us. They are a class outfit and have a lot of players who pose a threat. We know we are going to have to be sharp on both sides of the ball, but for us it has been about working on what we can bring as a team.
“We are all looking forward to it.”
Tickets are selling fast for the game with more than 8,150 sold on Friday lunchtime.
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