Scarlets have won their last five league games
The Scarlets will be looking to home and a supportive Parc y Scarlets crowd on Thursday evening as they face a vital game against Treviso in their RaboDirect PR012 top four ambitions.
Having won their last five league games at home at Parc y Scarlets, the West Wales region will be looking to extend winning ways and their best home run since moving to the new stadium in 2008.
The Scarlets narrowly lost their hold on their last two games on the away circuit in recent weeks with a nail-biting finish away at the RDS in Leinster last weekend so it’s a big welcome home after three matches on the road in the past month.
The Scarlets also welcome back a number of their Wales internationals – providing a strong bench to draw upon for Thursday night’s fixture; with Liam Williams (wing), Lou Reed (second row), Aaron Shingler (back row) and Rhodri Jones (Prop) all back in Scarlets shirts.
Benetton Treviso’s only victory in their last eight matches in all tournaments was 37-14 over Italian rivals Aironi on New Year’s Eve. Treviso have won three times on the road this season, at Glasgow, Ulster and Connacht. Benetton have not been victorious in Wales since December 2007, when they beat the Dragons 24-22 at Rodney Parade.
Head of Rugby Nigel Davies said: “It was tough on the players last week at the RDS, that was a hard-fought, physical game and we competed against them very well. It always going to swing on a couple of key moments, unfortunately it was a really tough call in the end and I was really disappointed for the players they put their all into that performance.
“It was hard to be too critical of them as they did exactly what we asked of them – to go there and compete and we were on even terms throughout that game. We take a lot out of that performance and will bring that level of commitment and passion into this must-win game on Thursday night.”
Treviso won 20-10 at the Stadio Monigo in round five of the RaboDirect PRO12, and have won two of the three previous fixtures against Scarlets in this tournament.
Starting XV:
15 Dan Newton
14 Lee Williams
13 Gareth Maule (capt)
12 Adam Warren
11 Andy Fenby
10 Aled Thomas
9 Gareth Davies
1 Phil John
2 Emyr Phillips
3 Deacon Manu
4 Dominic Day
5 Damian Welch
6 Josh Turnbull
7 Johnathan Edwards
8 Kieran Murphy
Replacements:
16 Craig Hawkins
17 Rhodri Jones
18 Peter Edwards
19 Lou Reed
20 Aaron Shingler
21 Liam Davies
22 Nick Reynolds
23 Liam Williams