The West Walians are expecting a backlash from the two-time European champions after Pivac’s side claimed a 15-3 victory at Parc Y Scarlets in round two. The Scarlets’ victory was only the fifth by Welsh teams against the Tigers in 25 European matches and no Welsh team has yet managed a victory at the home of the English cup kings. The best result in 12 games at Welford Road by a Welsh team is the 32-32 draw earned by the Ospreys in 2009.
The Scarlets will be without influential Wales full-back Liam Williams, lock Joe Snyman, scrum-half Gareth Davies and wing Michael Tagicakibau added to a casualty roster than already includes Wales tight-head prop Samson Lee, skipper Ken Owens and four other front-row players.
Both sides have two home wins and two away defeats so far in the competition. The winner of the Pool three clash will keep their quarter-final hopes alive with a round to play, but the losers will be out of the race for the quarter-finals.
Pivac said: “It is a pretty extensive injury toll, but there is not a lot we can do about that. We have spoken this week about the gutsy performance we put in against Leicester in October. We were in disarray in that match with four guys going off before the 27-minute mark.
“We rallied the troops then, dug deep and came away with a great result and it is going to be something similar required again.
“We have also talked about the performance out in Toulon and that is the sort of effort we are going to need for what is a big game. There is a lot riding on it.”
