Preview: Brive v Scarlets
January 22 2010
Stephen Jones and Matthew Rees return for the Scarlets for what could be the region's 2009/10 European finale against Brive this Saturday.
Star fly-half Jones will start at number ten with hooker Rees having to settle for a place on the bench. Prop Rhys Thomas also returns from injury to get a place in the 23 and 27-year-old lock Damian Welch gets his first start for the region in a Heineken Cup game.
The Scarlets will visit the Stade Municipal des Sports on Saturday focused on a replicating their come-from-behind win against London Irish, and with it the opportunity of reaching the last eight of either the Heineken Cup or Amlin Challenge Cup.
With only two sides having secured qualification for the next stages so far, there is still plenty to play for in Europe, but the Scarlets say they are just focused on getting an away win and with it the chance of finishing second in their group.
"There are so many permutations as to how and if we can qualify - we just have to focus on what we can control which is getting a result in Brive on Saturday," said Head Coach Nigel Davies, speaking to the region's website.
"I was delighted with last weekend's result and the way that a lot of our younger players stuck at the cause and finished as the stronger team. It was a huge achievement for them and the team and obviously put us in a reasonably good position going into this final round.
"This is a very big game for us against Brive, we have remained very focused and positive this week building on the platform from Sunday and the players are just looking at securing a win."
On the return of some experienced Scarlets players to the field, Davies was delighted to get some of his senior players back for a trip that he admits will be a testing 80 minutes.
"Brive is a very passionate French rugby club and it's great to see them back in the top flight - but they will be disappointed with their performances and may want to sign-off with a big game," he said.
"They have a big squad of experienced players, a great support and it's a hard place to go and win a game of rugby at.
"What we are looking at is trying to finish second in our group, to win four out of six games in our pool, given where we are in our transition and the fact we blooded so many of our younger players in this competition, will, in my view, be a real achievement."
Meanwhile, Brive are once again able to call upon Andy Goode and Riki Flutey as the England back duo were declared fit following a sizeable period on the sidelines.
Former Wales international Alix Popham will lead the French outfit while there is a surprise at number where the big-framed hooker Steve Thompson dons the jersey.
The teams:
Brive: 15 Scott Spedding, 14 Horacio Agulla, 13 Ronnie Cooke, 12 Riki Flutey, 11 Régis Bianco, 10 Andy Goode, 9 Jean-Baptiste Pejoine, 8 Steve Thompson, 7 Fabien Domingo, 6 Alix Popham (capt), 5 Retief Uys, 4 Thibault Dubarry, 3 Petrisor Toderasc, 2 Jean-Philippe Bonrepaux, 1 Pablo Henn.
Replacements: 16 Guillaume Ribes, 17 Davit Kinchagishvili, 18 Christian Short, 19 Simon Azoulai, 20 Shaun Perry, 21 Luciano Orquera, 22 Alexis Palisson, 23 Pascal Idieder.
Scarlets: 15 Daniel Evans, 14 Morgan Stoddart, 13 Sean Lamont, 12 Jon Davies, 11 Andrew Fenby, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Martin Roberts, 8 David Lyons, 7 Josh Turnbull, 6 Rob McCusker, 5 Dominic Day, 4 Damian Welch, 3 Deacon Manu, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Iestyn Thomas.
Replacements: 16 Matthew Rees, 17 Phil John, 18 Rhys Thomas, 19 Lou Reed, 20 Jon Edwards, 21 Lee Williams, 22 Rhys Priestland, 23 Gareth Maule.
Date: Saturday, January 23
Kick-off: 19:00 (18:00 GMT)
Venue: Stade Municipal
Referee: Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Leo Colgan (Ireland), Barry O'Keeffe (Ireland)
Television match official: Tom Redmond (Ireland)