Skipper Ken stays at No.8 as Scarlets aim to tame Tigers
SKIPPER Ken Owens continues as an emergency No. 8 as Steff Evans makes a return to Scarlets colours for today’s Heineken Champions Cup clash against Leicester in Llanelli (5.30pm).
With the West Walians still plagued by injury issues in the back row, Wales hooker Owens is again selected at the back of the scrum.
For last weekend’s Guinness PRO14 win over the Dragons, Owens was asked to play there for the first time in his professional career and did a decent job in unfamiliar territory.
And it’s a case of same again from Pivac, who has opted not to risk thrusting Josh Macleod back into the starting line-up. Macleod hasn’t played for two months because of a stress fracture of the foot, but is named on the bench.
As for 12-times capped international wing Evans, he returns to the side after a couple of weeks on the sidelines where Pivac has wanted him to work on his defensive game.
With Warren Gatland naming his Six Nations squad next week, the 24-year-old knows he needs a big game to press his claim.
Elsewhere in the back division, Wales and Lions centre Jonathan Davies is rested with Kieron Fonotia stepping in alongside Hadleigh Parkes in midfield.
Dan Jones, man of the match against the Dragons, continues at fly-half and is partnered by the recalled Gareth Davies at nine.
The Scarlets pack is unchanged with second row Josh Helps handed his first European start.
“What we’ve talked about during the week is putting on a performance at home that we’ll be proud of,” said Pivac. “We’ve got a pretty good home record over the last couple of years and we’d like to maintain that.
“There’s no pressure on us for points to qualify, so it’s really about guys going out there to express themselves. Personally, I hate losing, and so does everyone in this squad, and we’ll be doing everything we can to get a result.”
Leicester, like the Scarlets, are out of the quarter-final reckoning, so head coach Geordan Murphy has opted to rest a number of his frontline players, including England internationals Jonny May, George Ford, Manu Tuilagi, Dan Cole and Ellis Genge. Scrum-half Ben Young is named among the replacements.
New Wales international Jonah Holmes starts on the wing, while former Scarlet Gareth Owen is picked in the centre.
The battle for qualification from Pool 4 is now between unbeaten Racing 92 and Ulster, who meet in Belfast on Saturday.
The Scarlets, semi-finalists last season, are searching for their first win in the tournament this term, while the Tigers’ challenge was ended by their back-to-back defeats by the Parisians last month.
Leicester ran out 45-27 winners when the sides met at Welford Road in October.
Meanwhile, versatile Aussie back Paul Asquith has signed a new twoyear contract with the Scarlets.
Scarlets:
Johnny McNicholl; Paul Asquith, Kieron Fonotia, Hadleigh Parkes, Steff Evans; Dan Jones, Gareth Davies; Rob Evans, Ryan Elias, Samson Lee, Josh Helps, David Bulbring, Ed Kennedy, Dan Davis, Ken Owens (capt).
Reps:
Marc Jones, Wyn Jones, Simon Gardiner, Tom Price, Josh Macleod, Kieran Hardy, Steff Hughes, Ioan Nicholas.
Leicester:
George Worth; Jonah Holmes, Gareth Owen, Kyle Eastmond, Jordan Olowefela; Matt Toomua (capt), Ben White; Greg Bateman, Jake Kerr, Joe Heyes, Harry Wells, Graham Kitchener, Mike Williams, Will Evans, Valentino Mapapalangi.
Ross McMillan, Facundo Gigena, David Feao, Mike Fitzgerald, Brendan O’Connor, Ben Youngs, Joe Ford, Sam Aspland-Robinson.
Reps: