Hughes To Captain Scarlets

Scarlets head coach Wayne Pivac has named his side to take on Cheetahs at Free State Stadium making two changes to the side that secured a bonus point victory over Southern Kings last weekend.

Scrum half Mike Phillips comes in to the starting XV, as the only change to the backline, with Jonathan Evans sidelined with an ankle injury.

Openside flanker James Davies makes a long awaited return to action after recovering from shoulder surgery and comes straight back in to the starting line-up, following yesterday’s news that he has extended his stay in West Wales.

Will Boyde moves across the backline to number 8 with Josh Macleod moving to the replacements bench.

Lock Steven Cummins will make his Scarlets debut if he appears from the replacements bench as well as scrum half Herschel Jantjies, who has been signed on a shirt-term loan from the Stormers. Outside half replacement Ioan Hughes will also look to make his regional debut.

Looking ahead to the Guinness PRO14 clash Wayne Pivac said; “Nobody else in our Conference has gone there and won, for us it’s a bonus game really. We’ll be doing everything we can to win it.

“The boys will be chasing the win and chasing the points. Securing the five points in the first game has alleviated the pressure a little bit. We’re in a good position. We maintained the 7-point gap, which means we come out of South Africa top of the Conference no matter what happens this weekend.”

Scarlets team to take on Cheetahs at Free State Stadium, Saturday 2nd December, kick-off 5.35pm;

15 Johnny Mcnicholl, 14 Tom Prydie, 13 Steff Hughes ©, 12 Paul Asquith, 11 Ioan Nicholas, 10 Dan Jones, 9 Mike Phillips, 1 Dylan Evans, 2 Ryan Elias, 3 Werner Kruger, 4 Lewis Rawlins, 5 David Bulbring, 6 Tadhg Beirne, 7 James Davies, 8 Will Boyde

Replacements; Taylor Davies, Rhys Fawcett, Simon Gardiner, Steven Cummins, Josh Macleod, Herschel Jantjies, Ioan Hughes, Morgan Williams