Williams to lead Scarlets at Judgement Day clash

Kieran Lewis News

Scarlets have named a strong side, including no less than ten internationals in the starting XV, for Saturday’s Judgement Day clash against the Dragons at the Principality Stadium.

The last round of the regular season will see Scarlets take on Dragons, at 15:05, before the Cardiff Blues welcome the Ospreys to the national stadium for Judgement Day VI.

Head coach Wayne Pivac has named a strong side for the final round of the regular season with the Scarlets requiring a bonus point victory to secure a home draw in the Final Series Quarter Final next weekend.

Scarlets are currently in second place in Conference B with Edinburgh only a point behind in third place. Edinburgh will take on Glasgow on Saturday hoping to secure a victory over their fellow Scots to pip Scarlets to the home draw post.

One personnel change in the backline sees Ioan Nicholas come on to the wing. Leigh Halfpenny returns to the fullback berth and Rhys Patchell returning to the outside half position sees Dan Jones move to the bench. Centre Scott Williams will lead the side in his final Judgement Day clash as a Scarlet.

In the pack Ryan Elias comes in to the front row, alongside Rob Evans and Samson Lee, with club captain Ken Owens moving to the bench. Lewis Rawlins and Steve Cummins pair up in the second row with Tadhg Beirne moving to the blindside flank alongside James Davies and Will Boyde in the backrow.

Head Coach Pivac said; “Our players want to get back out there (after last week’s semi final). We’re putting out what we believe is the strongest side possible, bearing in mind the workload of some players who won’t be up to playing.

“After last weekend we’re really determined to get a good performance on the board, no matter what they bring to the table. You have to respect every opponent because the minute you don’t you take your eye off the ball, you can have a poor performance. We’ve had a couple this season we’d love to get back.

“There’s enough history there to suggest that we need to be on our game. I suspect they may get quite physical and come quite direct at us. They’re a dangerous opponent in that it’s the last game of the season.”

Scarlets team to take on Dragons at the Principality Stadium, Saturday 28th April, kick-off 15:05;

15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Ioan Nicholas, 13 Scott Williams ©, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Rhys Patchell, 9 Gareth Davies, 1 Rob Evans, 2 Ryan Elias, 3 Samson Lee, 4 Lewis Rawlins, 5 Steve Cummins, 6 Tadhg Beirne, 7 James Davies, 8 Will Boyde

Replacements; 16 Ken Owens, 17 Phil Price, 18 Werner Kruger, 19 David Bulbring, 20 John Barclay, 21 Jonathan Evans, 22 Dan Jones, 23 Steff Hughes