Magners League Official Website : Jenkins looking for home boost

Lee Byrne - at full back for the Scarlets

Steve Pope Photography

Jenkins looking for home boost

14 October 2005, 12:48 pm

By Jonathan McConnell

Llanelli Scarlets boss Gareth jenkins is keen that his side win against Glasgow on Sunday as they look to boost their spirits ahead of the Heineken Cup.

“This our last game before Europe and although we’ve been pleased with our overall performance in recent weeks we still have a few creases to iron out before we travel to Toulouse for the Heineken Cup next weekend,” Jenkins told the Scarlets website.

“We delivered well against Munster and the Tykes but feel that we let a few gremlins enter our game last weekend against Newcastle. Our lineout is still causing us a few problems, we’ve played well as a pack and driven well off the lineout, but it’s still causing us some inconsistency”.
However, with Glasgow having proved last season that their only too capable of putting an end to the party at Stradey, Coach knows that his team must be firing on all cylinders if they are to produce another win this weekend.

“Glasgow are a quality team and a typical Scottish outfit - they’ve got great tempo and an appetite for attack. They scored against us twice last season from 80 meters out and we need to ensure that the same doesn’t happen this time around”.

There’s a little less of a surprise for wing Mark Jones as he taken his starting position from the outset this weekend. But with Stradey’s injury list set to shorten even more in coming weeks there’ll be plenty of competition for places, starting this weekend with Garan Evans taking up position in the 22.
With Dwayne Peel recovering from surgery on his ankle, Scarlets Academy product Liam Davies gets the nod at number 9 while Clive Stuart-Smith moves on to the bench.
“We’re still unsure about Dwayne” admits Coach, “he had a couple of spurs removed from his ankle yesterday and we believe that it’ll be a week before he’s back in training, a surgeons report in the next few days will hopefully confirm that. However, Liam has earned his starting place for Sunday – he’s made his presence felt in every game he’s been given time in and we’re looking forward to seeing what he can bring to the game this Sunday”.

Elsewhere, John Davies gets a highly deserved break from play having started every game for the Scarlets so far this season. John’s break does however open up an opportunity for Scarlets Development player Ricky Davies who pulls on the number 3 jersey for his first starting line-up call on Sunday.

Hottie Louw joins Inoke Afeaki in the second row, while hooker Matthew Rees will be hoping for a little more time on the park this weekend.

Scarlets Team
15. Lee Byrne; 14. Dafydd James; 13. Matthew J Watkins; 12. Regan King; 11. Mark Jones; 10. Gareth Bowen; 9. Liam Davies; 1. Iestyn Thomas; 2. Aled Gravelle;
3. Ricky Davies; 4. Inoke Afeaki; 5. Hottie Louw; 6. Jonathan Mills; 7. Simon Easterby (C); 8. Alix Popham;
Replacements:
16. Dorian Williams; 17. Matthew Rees; 18. Chris Wyatt; 19. Adam Jones; 20. Clive Stuart-Smith; 21. Mike Hercus; 22. Garan Evans;