Scarlets play Ospreys
The Ospreys will hope to put in a good performance and beat the Scarlets on Saturday in the fifth round of games in the Magners League.
The Champions visit the Scarlets and will be hoping to come away with a victory knowing that this will be a difficult match away from home.
The Ospreys will be looking for back to back wins after they defeated Italian side Aironi 38-6 at the Liberty Stadium.
After an indifferent start to the season the Ospreys will be hoping to show why they were crowned as the Magners League Champions last season. The Ospreys beat Leinster in the final last year and a number of players have yet to reach the same heights and
perform to the same standards.
Wales captain Ryan Jones could line up for his first appearance of the new campaign. Jones has been out with a knee injury and remained on the bench for the match with Aironi. James Hook is in line for a return after injuring his shoulder, while Adam Jones
is likely to continue as prop after returning against Munster and then Aironi.
The Ospreys lost the match against Munster 22-10. The Welsh side outscored Munster in tries with Tommy Bowe and Richard Fussell scoring a try a piece. Munster’s only try came from New Zealander Doug Howlett, but Ronan O’Gara’s place kicking proved to be
the difference.
In their first match of the season the Ospreys narrowly lost to Ulster by a single point and beat Benetton Treviso 32-16 in their second round of matches.
The Ospreys have a number of injury concerns at present. Sonny Parker, Barry Davis, Tom Smith, Rory Pitman and Ben Lewis will all miss the game against the Scarlets.
The Ospreys forward coach Jonathan Humphreys said, "It's going to be very intense, very loud, the Scarlets are playing some good rugby at the moment."
The Ospreys have not lost at the Liberty Stadium in 10 games and their last loss at home was to Leinster.
The Scarlets have started the season better than their Welsh rivals. They lost to Benetton Treviso 34-28 in their opening game and were unlucky not to have taken more from the game. They did manage to pick up a crucial away bonus point.
Since then, they have beaten Connaught 35-33 at home in a thrilling game. Sean Lamont crossed the line in the last move of the match during the seventh minute of injury time. The late try won the game for the home side.
The Scarlets also beat Italian side Aironi 49-10 at home in a convincing display. The Italian side are a weak outfit and have failed to win a match so far this season.
In their last match the Scarlets won 27-14 away to the Newport Gwent Dragons. This win moved them to second in the table.
Stephen Jones’ kicking will be key factor for the Scarlets as will his plays. Scottish winger Lamont will cause the away side some difficulties if he gets the ball in the loose and has the chance to counter attack. The Australian veteran David Lyon will
provide some much needed physicality up front as will Matthew Rees as hooker who will need to throw well during the lineout.
This will be a close derby game, but the Scarlets are at home and playing well against an Ospreys team that has yet to perform consistently. A narrow home win should be the result.
Tags: