Parkes to make 100th appearance in Guinness PRO14 final

Kieran Lewis News

Scarlets and Wales centre Hadleigh Parkes will make his 100th regional appearance on Saturday evening in the Guinness PRO14 final.

The West Wales region has reached their second consecutive final in as many seasons at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium.

British & Irish Lion fullback Leigh Halfpenny returns from a hamstring injury that saw him miss last weekend’s semi final victory over Glasgow Warriors. Johnny Mcnicholl, who made a return from injury in time for last weekend’s clash, moves to the wing with Tom Prydie moving to the replacements bench.

With John Barclay unavailable following surgery to a ruptured Achilles tendon Wayne Pivac has made changes to the pack. Tadhg Beirne moves to number eight, partnering James Davies and Aaron Shingler in the back row. Lewis Rawlins comes in to the second row to partner Steve Cummins whilst the front row remains unchanged.

Looking ahead to the Guinness PRO14 final Scarlets head coach Wayne Pivac said; “They’re a very good side. We only have to look back to our semi final where we were completely outplayed. They’ve gone on to win the big prize and be crowned Euro champions, and deservedly so.

“To back that up against a good Munster team, not an easy task a week later after celebrations and euphoria of winning it, was to me a testament to how strong that squad is, they’ll be better this weekend with some guys freshened up.

“We’re expecting a massive game. It’s a massive challenge for us but I think it’s a great game, last year’s PRO12 champions up against this year’s European champions. If you want to win it you want to do so against the best.”

Scarlets team to take on Leinster in the Guinness PRO14 final at Aviva Stadium, Dublin, on Saturday 26th May, kick-off 18:00;

15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Johnny Mcnicholl, 13 Scott Williams, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Rhys Patchell, 9 Gareth Davies, 1 Rob Evans, 2 Ken Owens ©, 3 Samson Lee, 4 Lewis Rawlins, 5 Steve Cummins, 6 Aaron Shingler, 7 James Davies, 8 Tadhg Beirne

Replacements; Ryan Elias, Wyn Jones, Werner Kruger, David Bulbring, Will Boyde, Jonathan Evans, Dan Jones, Tom Prydie

Leinster v Scarlets, Guinness PRO14 final, Aviva Stadium, Dublin, kick-off 18:00