The West Wales rugby region are due to entertain European champions Leinster in round one of the Magners League.
That means his international signings such as wing Sean Lamont (Scotland) and prop Rhys Thomas (Wales) could be pitted against Lions heroes such as Rob Kearney (full-back) and Jamie Heaslip (No 8).
Davies said: “To have Leinster first up on home turf is a great prospect. Everybody connected with the Scarlets will be relishing the early challenge.
“Anything can happen on day one of the competition and I know that the squad will be up for it in a big way. New players such as Sevens World Cup winner Richie Pugh and stars of the future such as Tavis Knoyle will be eager to get early plaudits.
“With Lions talent such as Brian O’Driscoll and Luke Fitzgerald in the Leinster squad there’s a great deal to look forward to on that first weekend in September. We have our own Lions, of course, in Stephen Jones and Matthew Rees and I know our Scarlets supporters will want to give them a warm welcome home after their tremendous efforts in South Africa.”
If the round one challenge wasn’t enough for the Scarlets, operating under new skipper Mark Jones and vice-captain David Lyons – round three of the championship brings Magners League title holders Munster to Parc y Scarlets.
Davies said: “That’ll be another exciting fixture. There were only two points in it when we played them at home in November and we will hope to be in a stronger position than then, with young talent such as Jonathan Davies and Daniel Evans picking up a great deal of invaluable experience last term.”
Other stand-out Magners fixtures at Parc y Scarlets include a Christmas weekend cracker against local rivals the Ospreys and a mid-April showdown with the Cardiff Blues.
Davies said: “These are games that our supporters quite rightly look forward to with great anticipation. To have the Ospreys here a day or two after Christmas will make for an outstanding occasion in front of what we hope will be a very large crowd.
“In advance of all this, of course, we have much work to do in pre-season. The group has been back together now for two or three weeks and there’s a good feeling and atmosphere around Parc y Scarlets.”
Celtic Rugby today released details of fixtures for the 2009-10 Magners League campaign and the 18-round regular season starts the first weekend in September and runs through until the weekend of May 7. However, with the introduction this year of play-offs to decide the Magners League champions, there is the exciting prospect of semi-finals on the weekend of May 14. with the season concluding in the first Magners League final on the weekend of May 28.
Munster start the defence of their title with a trip to Scotland to face Glasgow Warriors at Firhill Arena whilst Anglo-Welsh cup holders Cardiff Blues welcome Edinburgh for the opening match in their new home at Cardiff City Stadium.
These fixtures are weekend-only dates; specific dates, kick-off times and in some cases venues, will be released later after consultations with broadcast partners and the individual teams.
Already announced are fixtures in the revamped Anglo-Welsh Cup. The Scarlets face Harlequins (a) and Worcester Warriors (h) in November followed by London Wasps (a) and Cardiff Blues (h) in January and February.
Their Heineken Cup pool pits the Scarlets against Leinster, English big guns London Irish and French club Brive.
