Davies keeps the faith

Scarlets head coach Nigel Davies has kept faith with the match day squad which brought Heineken Cup success as they prepare to face the Newport Gwent Dragons at Parc y Scarlets on Friday (KO 7.05pm).

There will be starts again for try-scoring heroes Daniel Evans (full-back) and skipper Mark Jones (wing) along with British Lions Stephen Jones (outside-half) and Matthew Rees (hooker).

Of the XV which started in the Saturday’s triumph at London Irish, only young centre Jonathan Davies misses out. He is rested to ensure complete recovery from a hip knock sustained in the October 10 win over Brive.

Rob Higgitt comes off the bench to take the inside centre berth while Gareth Maule steps up to take Higgitt’s place on the bench.

Davies said: “We’re obviously very pleased with our last two performances but the emphasis this week has been on putting those to bed, parking them up for six weeks or so until Europe comes around again.

“In the past few days we’ve been focusing on the challenge we face on Friday which will be huge for us particularly considering where we are in the Magners League.

“Our form in the league has been very good - we’ve been unlucky on a couple of occasions – and we were able to build on that during the European phase. What we have to do now is make sure that we keep going.”

Scarlets: Iestyn Thomas, Matthew Rees, Deacon Manu, Lou Reed, Dominic Day, Simon Easterby, Dafydd Jones, David Lyons; Martin Roberts, Stephen Jones, Mark Jones (capt), Rob Higgitt, Sean Lamont, Lee Williams, Daniel Evans.

Replacements: Phil John, Ken Owens, Vernon Cooper, Richie Pugh, Tavis Knoyle, Rhys Priestland, Gareth Maule.