WHO’S FIT FOR AUTUMN SERIES FINALE?

MIKE Phillips is set to start for the Scarlets in their Guinness PRO14 clash with the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on Saturday after Jonathan Evans became the latest scrum-half sidelined because of injury, writes Rob Lloyd.

Evans is set to be out of action for six weeks because of the ankle injury he picked up early on in last weekend’s 34-30 win over Southern Kings in Port Elizabeth.

With Gareth Davies and Aled Davies part of Warren Gatland’s Wales autumn series squad and Declan Smith ruled out for 12 weeks with an ankle problem, Wales’ most-capped scrum-half Phillips came out of retirement to answer an SOS from the Scarlets for this South African tour.

Linking up with the squad from his home in Dubai, the 35-year-old was originally brought in to provide cover from the bench, but he is now going to have to start against the Cheetahs in a match that will be played at altitude on the Highveld.

The Scarlets are currently trying to sort out paperwork to bring in a replacement to provide scrum-half cover on the bench, but it looks certain that Phillips is going to be back in his familiar No.9 jersey for the match.

Wayne Pivac and his squad have moved to Cape Town to continue their preparations for a tie against a Cheetahs side who have lost just one of their five home matches this season.

Meanwhile, Australian-born prop Dylan Evans has extended his stay in west Wales by signing a new contract.

Evans, who started against the Kings while Rob Evans and Wyn Jones were on Test duty, joined the region ahead of the 2015-16 campaign.