Having won their opening two games, the Scarlets were beaten 65-13 at Donnybrook in Round 3 and currently one of three teams tied on 10 points in Pool 4 – Leinster A, Nottingham and the Scarlets.
Flanagan has called up Wales Under 18 wing Ryan Conbeer, who recently helped Coleg Sir Gar to win the WRU
Midweek Under 18 league title, and Wales Under 20 outside half Dan Jones. Luke Garrett and Nicky Thomas join Welsh international Emyr Phillips in the front row, while lock Tom Price goes from playing against Toulon in the Champions Cup on Sunday to the B&I Cup this weekend.
“We all know that last week’s performance and result was unacceptable on an individual basis and as a group collectively. Having said that, what is important is that we don’t get too beat up on last week’s result,” said Flanagan.
“A lot of hard work has gone into this competition so far and what’s great about is we get a chance to play the same team again and right the wrongs. The players are hurting after last week, their pride has been dented, and the only way to get through that is to work hard – and everyone has worked extremely hard this week.
“We’ve set ourselves a target of 20 points as we believe 20 points will get us through the pool stages. It is vital that we pick up points this weekend.
“We’ve been clear from the outset that we want to qualify from this group, and as much as last week hasn’t helped our cause, we believe we have the capabilities of doing so.”
The Ospreys were the only Welsh winners last weekend as they broke their duck in Galway thanks to a last gasp try that secured a 20-17 win over Connacht Eagles. After a last-minute try earned them an away win last weekend.
They host Connacht in the return game at the Talbot Athletic Ground on Sunday and head coach Tom Smith is hoping for another big performance.
“It was great to get the result last weekend out in Galway, even if there were aspects of our performance that we need to improve on. But getting over the line for our first win as a B&I squad should hopefully give us some confidence,” said Smith.
“The players have worked hard in training this week and we are looking to put a better performance together and back up last weekend with another ‘W’. It’s going to be another tough battle, but it’s one we are excited about.”
Richard Hodges has made four changes to his Cardiff Blues PS XV side as they chase their first B&I Cup win when they host Ulster A at Sardis Road in Pool 1. They were pipped 16-10 in Belfast last weekend.
Hooker Ethan Lewis comes in to lead the side at hooker, while Kieron Assiratti, Shane Lewis-Hughes and Jim Botham are further changes up front. The back line remains the same as played last week.
“The boys put in a really good performance last week despite being down to 14 men for the majority of the game and can take a lot of confidence into the match at Sardis Road,” said Hodges.
The Dragons will go into their return clash with Yorkshire Carnegie with an unchanged side from that which went down to a 20-17 defeat in Pontefract last weekend. James Benjamin will once again lead the side on the all-weather surface at Ystrad Mynach.
“We went away to a powerful English Championship side in Yorkshire Carnegie and did really well, better than expected if we are honest, and what we can’t do now is expect the same to happen just because we are at home,” said Dragons PS XV coach, James Chapron.
“We’ve got to improve our game and are under no illusions that it’s going to be really tough again. If Yorkshire get going forward quickly like Doncaster, then the pitch we are playing on doesn’t slow them down. The surface makes it easier to go forward and harder for the defence to retreat because the speed of ball is that much quicker.”
B&I CUP ROUND 4 FIXTURES
Saturday, 17 December
Pool 1: Cardiff Blues PS XV v Ulster A (Sardis Road, 2.30pm)
Pool 4: Scarlets PS XV v Leinster A (Carmarthen Park, 2.30pm)
Pool 5: Dragons PS XV v Yorkshire Carnegie (Ystrad Mynach, 2.30pm)
Sunday, 18 December
Pool 3: Ospreys PS XV v Connacht Eagles (Talbot Athletic Ground, 2.00pm)
B&I CUP TEAMS
Scarlets PS XV: Dion Jones; Tom Williams, Ioan Nicholas, Gareth Owen, Ryan Conbeer; Dan Jones, Aled Davies; Luke Garrett, Emyr Phillips, Nicky Thomas, Tom Price, Rynier Bernardo, Tom Phillips, Shaun Evans, Morgan Allen (captain)
Reps: Taylor Davies, Rhys Fawcett, Peter Edwards, Josh Helps, Trystan Lloyd, Declan Smith, Billy McBryde
Ospreys PS XV: Phil Jones; Jay Baker, Joe Thomas, Keiran Williams, Tom O’Flaherty; Luke Price, Matt Aubrey; Rowan Jenkins, Hugh Gustafson (captain), Dan Suter, Jack Pope, James Ratti, Joe Tomalin-Reeves, Will Jones, Charlie Davies
Reps: Ifan Phillips, Alex Jeffries, Adam Thresher, Mike Sully, David Evans, Joe Gage, Andrew Claypole
Dragons PS XV: Josh Prosser (Cross Keys); Joe Goodchild (Dragons Academy/ Cross Keys), Barney Nightingale (Dragons/ Cross Keys), Connor Edwards (Dragons/ Bedwas), Pat Lewis (Dragons/ Bedwas); Arwel Robson (Dragons/ Newport), Owen Davies (Dragons/ Newport); John Lavender (Newport), Ellis Shipp (Dragons Academy/ Cross Keys), Craig Mitchell (Dragons), Joe Davies (Dragons), Max Williams (Dragons Academy/ Ebbw Vale), Andrew Waite (Bedwas), James Benjamin (Dragons, captain), Robson Blake (Bedwas/ Dragons)
Reps: Darran Harris (Dragons), Keagan Bale (Dragons), Chris Coleman (Dragons Academy/ Newport), Henri Williams (Dragons Academy/ Newport), Nathan Hudd (Dragons Academy/ Bedwas), Owain Leonard (Dragons Academy/ Cross Keys), David Evans
Cardiff Blues PS XV: Gareth Thompson; Kyle Evans, Garyn Smith, Harri Millard, Teri Gee; Ben Jones, Pele Cowley; Corey Domachowski, Ethan Lewis (captain), Kieron Assiratti, Hemi Barnes, Ben Murphy, Shane Lewis Hughes, Jim Botham, Cam Dolan
Reps: Liam Belcher, Rhys Carre, Dillon Lewis, Nick White, Dane Blacker, Owen Lane, James Beal
