Scarlets hand big opportunities to fresh talent for Anglo-Welsh contest

The Scarlets travel to Allianz Park on Sunday afternoon to take on the Aviva Premiership side Saracens in their second round of the LV=Cup competition.

A new look Scarlets team will be taking up the West Wales’ side campaign in the competition after their win at Parc y Scarlets against the Newport Gwent Dragons last weekend and with it the chance for new faces to make their mark in the regional shirt.

And it is a first appearance for new New Zealand signing Frazier Climo who starts on the wing for the Scarlets after arriving at Parc y Scarlets last week.

The talented back-three player joins from ITM Cup side Taranaki and is widely renowned for his lethal left footed kicking skills holding an 80%+ record last season. A top point scorer for his New Zealand provincial side, Climo has consistently recorded strong kicking percentages and notched up leading try score counts for his home club.

There are also new opportunities for a number of younger Scarlets to test themselves at a big Anglo-Welsh battle including Wales U20 centre star Steffan Hughes.

It’s a welcome return for Rob Evans after missing out last weekend with a concussion and he will front up in the front row alongside Darran Harris and Carmarthen Quins tight head Ian Jones.

The Scarlets have also brought in a young prop talent on loan from Bath, Adam Jamieson who will be on the bench following the call-ups of Samson Lee, Rhodri Jones to Wales and with Deacon Manu out long-term with a fractured arm, Jacobie Adriaanse recovering from injury (shoulder) and Horatiu Pungea on international duty with Romania.

Head Coach Simon Easterby said: “Last weekend was a good start and a group of new Scarlets played some good stuff. Obviously we’re really affected by international call-ups and we have to be mindful of the vital league games in front of us, so we are handing lots of opportunities to players in the region for what will be a big game up at Saracens.”

The Scarlets this week trained at the Cardiff Blue’s Arms Park on their new 4G surface in preparation for the artificial pitch at Allianz Park.

Easterby said: “It was good It was great to have the opportunity to train on a similar 4G pitch and we are grateful to everyone at the Cardiff Blues for opening up the pitch for us – hopefully it will help us prepare for Sunday’s game well.

“It does play differently and it was important for our squad to get used to that; it’s said it creates a quicker game and supports an expansive game with more ball-in-play time which suits us.

“It will be a big test against Saracens for many of these players – a real challenge for them but that is what’s important is that our wider squad are give the chance to push through and that our young players are exposed to a higher level of rugby and game time at this level.

“Saracens have shown they are pretty strong this year; they are able to rest players as well as lose players on international duty and still put out a strong side, you only have to see the team that was on the field against Wasps. So it’s a pretty big challenge for us.

“We’ve seen many young players develop and benefit from these types of games and they can kick on from this platform and make an impact. It’s a great opportunity for them this weekend.

“We also have to manage our squad during what will be a big next two months for us with Connacht, Leinster, the Clermont Heineken Cup double header, Munster and Ospreys back to back fixtures at Christmas and New Year.”

Scarlets v Saracens, Sunday 17th November 2013, Allianz Park kick off 3pm; 15 Kristian Phillips; 14 Frazier Climo; 13 Steffan Hughes; 12 Dylan Morgans; 11 Chris Knight; 10 Josh Lewis; 9 Aled Davies; 1 Rob Evans; 2 Darran Harris; 3; Ian Jones; 4; Johan Synman; 5 Richard Kelly; 6 Lewis Rawlins; 7 Dan Thomas; 8 Rob McCusker (capt).

Replacements: Ryan Elias, Shaun Hopkins, Adam Jamieson, Jake Ball, James Davies, Gareth Davies, Aled Thomas, Aaron Warren.