The Scarlets host French giants Clermont Auvergne for the last of their Heineken Cup pool games at their home Parc y Scarlets on Saturday kick off 6pm.
The West Wales side that battled hard against Leinster away at the RDS last weekend know it will be another big test of character taking on one of the favourites for the Heineken Cup title this season.
But a spirited and determined Scarlets side say they are looking forward to putting in a big performance in front of their home crowd against one of the top teams in Europe – to boost their season and gain momentum for their league campaign ahead.
The Scarlets will be looking to their strong record against French teams at Parc y Scarlets where they remain unbeaten at their home ground. It is also a welcome return home for the Scarlets for the first time in six games after a long series of away games at Exeter, Cardiff, the Liberty Stadium, Ulster and Leinster.
Scarlets Head Coach Simon Easterby said: “This is an important game for us back at home and we want to close our European campaign on the right note.
“We believe we’re much better than the results have shown and we want to use this game and this performance so show what we are capable of and that we can compete at the top level in Europe.
“There is no better way to do that than to gain a victory over Clermont in front of our home supporters.
“It is vital we build momentum before we go into this next phase of rugby and an important run of games in the RaboDirect PRO12 – where we remain well positioned for a top four finish.”
Easterby said the commitment and effort shown by his team last week in Leinster will be on show again at Parc y Scarlets.
He added: “I can’t fault the effort and commitment shown by the players in Leinster and I’ve told them that alone should spur us on for a victory against Clermont.
“We have a lot more in us as a team and this Saturday we’ll look to show that. There is still plenty to achieve this season and I believe the best is yet to come from our team.”
The region will celebrate the contribution made by two great Scarlets at their game on Saturday evening; Morgan Stoddart who announced his retirement through injury and Prop Phil John as he reaches an impressive 250 appearances as a Llanelli and Scarlets player.
The Scarlets field eight of their Welsh internationals selected for Six Nations campaign in their match day squad with a return to action for George North after his neck injury in Ulster.
Scarlets Team V Clermont Auvergne Saturday 19th January 6pm; 15 Liam Williams 14 George North, 13 Jon Davies, 12 Adam Warren, 11 Kristian Phillips, 10 Aled Thomas, 9 Tavis Knoyle, 1 Phil John, 2 Ken Owens, 3 Samson Lee, 4 George Earle, 5 Johan Synman, 6 Sione Timani, 7 Josh Turnbull, 8 Rob McCusker (capt)
Replacements: Matthew Rees, Rhodri Jones, Jacobie Adriaanse, Richard Kelly, Aaron Shingler, Gareth Davies, Gareth Maule, Andy Fenby.
The Scarlets will update supporters via their website on match day arrangements due to the ongoing adverse weather conditions. However, the region is confident the game will be hosted as the pitch at Parc y Scarlets is in good condition and has undersoil heating to combat any freezing conditions and the stadium access and surrounds have been cleared and gritted.
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