Welcome to our live coverage of the Scarlets’ clash with the Lions at Ellis Park in Johannesburg.
It’s another big test for Dwayne Peel’s men as they look to bounce back from defeat to the Stormers last time out — and they’ll have to do it with a much-changed side.
With six second rows unavailable through injury, on-loan pair Harvey Cuckson and Alex Groves are handed their Scarlets debuts, while Macs Page makes his first start of the season in midfield. Sam Costelow links up with Archie Hughes at half-back, and Ioan Nicholas returns at full-back.
The Scarlets know all about the challenge of playing at altitude against a physical, fast Lions outfit, but they’ll take confidence from their victory at Ellis Park last season.
Stick with us for all the build-up, live updates, scores, reaction and analysis from Johannesburg. Kick-off is at 12.45pm UK time, while the match will also be shown live on Premier Sports 2.
Lions: Q Horn; Keyter, Van Wyk, Kriel, Davids; Smith, Steyn; Kotze, Marais, Ntlabakanye, Oosthuizen, Landsberg, Pretorius, Venter, F Horn (capt). Replacements: Brandon, Schoeman, Van Vuuren, Nothnagel, Cairns, L Horn, Dobela, Mpeku
Scarlets: Nicholas; Mee, Page, Williams (capt), Murray; Costelow, Hughes; Hepburn, Van der Merwe, Holz, Cuckson, Groves, Taylor, Davis, Plumtree. Replacements: Myhill, O'Connor, Thomas, Gemine, Williams, Blacker, Hawkins, Roberts.
Lions assistant coach Ricardo Loubscher:
“We know that it’s going to be a tough challenge on the weekend. Scarlets present a different approach defensively, so from an attack point of view we need to be ready for that.
“Our training this week was focused mainly on simulating the pressure we can expect from the opposition in terms of defense and attack pictures, in order for the players get a feel of what it will be like come Saturday."
Who will Steve Tandy be keeping an eye on?
Steve Tandy names his first Wales squad on Tuesday meaning this is the final chance a number of players will get to prove why they should be included.
One of those is Macs Page who starts in place of Joe Roberts at outside centre. The 20-year-old toured Japan with Wales this summer but didn't get a cap.
This is a big chance for the man from Crymych to force Tandy's hand.
His centre partner Johnny Williams also needs a big game while both Ellie Mee and Sam Costelow are in the same boat.
Taine Plumtree is another with international ambitions but Blair Murray is a likely selection.