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Preview: Scarlets v London Irish

30th January 2015 09:12

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steven shingler scarlets

Facing his old club: Steven Shingler

Scarlets welcome back Ken Owens to the fray for this Saturday's LV= Cup clash against London Irish at Parc y Scarlets.

The Carmarthen-born hooker makes a return from injury that has kept him sidelined since September.

Owens' return is a welcome boost to the Scarlets pack, which has seen six front row players fall to injury in the last few months. Returning alongside Owens is veteran loosehead prop Phil John who has recovered from knee surgery.

With a number of senior players rested ahead of the forthcoming Pro12 fixture against Connacht a number of the region's bright young things in Lewis Rawlins, Phil Day and Will Boyde have an opportunity to make their mark with Rory Pitman returning to the number eight berth.

Former Exile Steven Shingler makes only his second start of the season at fly-half and will be partnered at half-back by Rhodri Williams.

Scarlets' new signing, Australian U20s and Welsh-qualified Jack Payne will take his place on the replacements bench and will be hoping to make his regional debut for the Scarlets this Saturday at Parc y Scarlets.

The 6ft 5in 18st back-row, who can also play lock, featured for the Wallabies age grade at the 2014 Junior Rugby World Championship.

Meanwhile, London Irish head coach Glenn Delaney has gone for an experienced starting line-up.

Johnny Harris makes his first appearance since returning from injury to start on the loosehead alongside Jimmy Stevens and Leo Halavatau in the front row.

Nic Rouse captains the side from the second row alongside Sean Cox with a back row of Kieran Low, Conor Gilsenan and Daniel Leo at number eight.

Darren Allinson and Myles Dorrian start in the half-backs with Eoin Griffin and Tom Fowlie in the centres. The back three consists on Andrew Fenby and James Short on the wings and Tom Homer at full-back.

Senior Academy player Ollie Curry and London Irish U18 Academy captain Theo Brophy-Clewes of Abbingdon School have been named on the bench along with Mike Mayhew, Halani Aulika, Richard Palframan, David Lyons, Tomás O'Leary and Eamonn Sheridan.

The teams:

Scarlets: 15 Josh Lewis, 14 Harry Robinson, 13 Frazier Climo, 12 Adam Warren, 11 Kristian Phillips, 10 Steven Shingler, 9 Rhodri Williams, 8 Rory Pitman, 7 Will Boyde, 6 Phil Day, 5 Lewis Rawlins, 4 George Earle, 3 Peter Edwards, 2 Ken Owens (c), 1 Phil John
Replacements: 16 Darran Harris, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Jacobie Adriaanse, 19 Jack Payne, 20 Sion Bennett, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Dan Jones, 23 Kyle Evans

London Irish: 15 Tom Homer, 14 James Short, 13 Tom Fowlie, 12 Eoin Griffin, 11 Andrew Fenby, 10 Myles Dorrian, 9 Darren Allinson, 8 Dan Leo, 7 Conor Gilsenan, 6 Kieran Low, 5 Sean Cox, 4 Nic Rouse (c), 3 Leo Halavatau, 2 Jimmy Stevens, 1 Johnny Harris
Replacements: 16 Mike Mayhew, 17 Halani Aulika, 18 Richard Palframan, 19 David Lyons, 20 Ollie Curry, 21 Tomás O'Leary, 22 Theo Brophy-Clewes, 23 Eamonn Sheridan

Date: Saturday, January 31
Venue: Parc y Scarlets
Kickoff: 18:30 GMT
Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys (England)
Assistant Referees: Leighton Hodges (Wales), Morgan Whitehead (Wales)

Forthcoming Fixtures
Fixture Details
All times are local
LV= Cup
Saturday , February 7
Sale Sharks vs Scarlets 14:00
Cardiff Blues vs Leicester 14:30
London Irish vs Newcastle 15:00
Bath vs Ospreys 15:00
Gloucester vs Harlequins 15:00
Northampton vs Wasps 15:15
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Friday , February 6
Wales vs England 20:05
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Italy vs Ireland 14:30
France vs Scotland 17:00
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Wasps 42 - 45 Cardiff Blues
London Welsh 15 - 20 Saracens
Newcastle 39 - 19 Sale Sharks
Newport Gwent D'gons 32 - 37 Exeter
Saturday , January 31
Harlequins 21 - 23 Bath
Leicester 17 - 8 Northampton
Gloucester 32 - 25 Ospreys
Scarlets 27 - 18 London Irish
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Ireland A 9 - 18 England Saxons Ireland A vs England Saxons Report
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Bath 20 - 15 Glasgow Bath vs Glasgow Report
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Saturday , January 24
Castres 19 - 47 Harlequins Castres vs Harlequins Report
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Pos Team P Pts
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3 Saracens 13 39
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