Wayne Pivac’s men will be hoping to follow the Ospreys’ lead after the Liberty Stadium side inflicted a record 62-13 defeat on the Scots in round three. And they will be buoyed by their record against Alan Solomons’ men, having won seven out of their last eight meetings.
The Edinburgh clash is a chance for the Scarlets to put-right their away record that has seen them win just once since last November – when they beat Benetton Treviso 33-41 back in February. Something has to give as the Scottish side have not won at home since last December, when they shocked Leinster 11-6.
Head Coach Wayne Pivac has been forced to replace the in-form Gareth Davies with Aled Davies after the Wales scrum-half suffered concussion last weekend. Rob McCusker comes into the side at no.8 with powerhouse Rory Pitman taking his seat on the bench. Samson Lee returns to the squad for the first-time this season following his five-week suspension for head-butt during Wales’ summer tour of South Africa.
Solomons has reacted to last week’s thumping by making eight changes to his starting line-up. Scotland hooker Ross Ford returns to the front-row and Grant Gilchrist comes in at lock, adding much needed experience to the pack that was decimated by the Ospreys last week. Greig Tonks, Sean Kennedy and Sam Beard come in to sure up the back line after an error-strewn display in Swansea.
Pivac said: “We fully expect Edinburgh to go home and test their resolve and have pride in their jersey. We’re preparing that way so we expect a challenge. We want to perform well on the road as well at home.
“We’re representing the people of the area and there were lots of disappointed people out there after Leinster. We needed a reaction after Leinster and we got one.The challenge for our players now is to take the same attitude from the game against Treviso into the game against Edinburgh.”
Scarlets: L Williams, H Robinson, G Owen, S Williams, M Tagicakibau, R Priestland, A Davies; R Evans, E Phillips, R Jones, J Ball, J Snyman, A Shingler, J Barclay, R McCusker.
Replacements: K Myhill, P John, S Lee, J Davies, R Pitman, R Williams, S Shingler, A Warren.
Edinburgh: G Tonks, J Cuthbert, S Beard, A Strauss, T Visser, T Heathcote,S Kennedy; A Dickinson, R Ford (c), J Andress, A Bresler, O Atkins, T Leonardi, H Watson, C Du Preez. Replacements: J Hilterbrand, A Dell, W Nel, G Gilchrist, R Grant, S Hidalgo-Clyne, P Burleigh, N McLennan.
