Cardiff v Scarlets - Teams and Prediction
RESCHEDULED ROUND EIGHT: Cardiff have made 10 changes for their United Rugby Championship rematch with Scarlets on Saturday.
The Blue and Blacks welcome their Welsh rivals to the Arms Park just seven days after they crashed to a disappointing defeat in Llanelli.
It was a performance director of rugby Dai Young branded as unacceptable and he has now made 10 sweeping changes to his side as they look for a reaction.
Five of those changes come in the front row, where Rhys Carré, Kirby Myhill and Dmitri Arhip return to the starting line-up. Corey Domachowski is included on the bench, while Kristian Dacey misses out due to a minor hamstring injury.
Seb Davies and Matthew Screech continue their partnership in the second-row with the two further changes in the back row.
James Ratti and James Botham have both been ruled out with knee injuries, while Josh Navidi is unavailable due to illness, meaning club captain Josh Turnbull pulls on the number eight jersey, having missed last week, and Shane Lewis-Hughes returns from injury.
Behind the pack, Lloyd Williams is preferred to partner Jarrod Evans and Garyn Smith combines in midfield with Rey Lee-Lo. There is an all new back-three Owen Lane and Theo Cabango back fit to replace Jason Harries and Josh Adams, who is now likely to miss the remainder of the season, while Matthew Morgan starts at full-back.
Young said: “We have made a number of changes, some due to injury and others purely based on form and selection. It is disappointing to lose Josh Adams for a number of weeks but we are hopeful that James Ratti and James Botham won’t be out for too long.
“That said, we still have some quality to come into the team and we need to see a reaction this weekend.
“The only positive about that last 60 minutes last week is that we now have an opportunity to put it right. That’s something that’s come loud and clear from the players. They’ve identified it wasn’t anywhere near the standard that they’ve come to expect from themselves.
“They want to go out there and rectify that this week, but I also expect there’s more to come from Scarlets as well. We didn’t push them to the limits and they’ll come down here with a bit of confidence.
“We know we need to be at our best and we have some wrongs to put right so there is plenty of motivation and I’m sure there will be a reaction.”
Meanwhile, Jonathan Davies returns to the starting XV to captain Scarlets at the Arms Park.
Davies takes over the armband from the injured Scott Williams – one of five personnel changes to the side that claimed a 35-20 victory in Llanelli last weekend.
Wales international Liam Williams makes his first appearance since the Six Nations to feature on the left wing and joins Johnny McNicholl and Tom Rogers in the back three.
Davies comes in at outside centre with Johnny Williams switching to inside centre.
Sam Costelow and Gareth Davies continue at halfback.
Prediction
@rugby365com: Scarlets by three points.
Teams:
Cardiff: 15 Matthew Morgan, 14 Owen Lane, 13 Rey Lee-Lo, 12 Garyn Smith, 11 Theo Cabango, 10 Jarrod Evans, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 Josh Turnbull (c), 7 Ellis Jenkins, 6 Shane Lewis-Hughes, 5 Matthew Screech, 4 Seb Davies, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 2 Kirby Myhill, 1 Rhys Carré.
Replacements: 16 Liam Belcher, 17 Corey Domachowski, 18 Will Davies-King, 19 Teddy Williams, 20 Will Boyde, 21 Tomos Williams, 22 Rhys Priestland, 23 Aled Summerhill.
Scarlets: 15 Johnny McNicholl, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Jonathan Davies (c), 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Liam Williams, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Sione Kalamafoni, 7 Dan Davis, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Jac Price, 4 Sam Lousi, 3 Javan Sebastian, 2 Ryan Elias, 1 Steff Thomas.
Replacements: 16 Shaun Evans, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Harri O’Connor, 19 Josh Macleod, 20 Carwyn Tuipulotu, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Angus O’Brien, 23 Joe Roberts.
Date: Saturday, April 9
Venue: Cardiff Arms Park
Kick-off: 15:10 (14:10 GMT)
Referee: Adam Jones (Wales)
Assistant referees: Rhys Jones (Wales), Carwyn Williams (Wales)
TMO: Sean Brickell (Wales)
