TAYLOR SET FOR SCARLET RETURN

Welsh Rugby Union | Club & Community Published 3:35 pm 17th Feb 2005 post

Elsewhere, fullback Lee Byrne starts in place of Garan Evans at 15, while Liam Davies of the Scarlets Academy features on the bench.

“This one game in isolation has halted us to a certain extent as ideally we would have wished to continue the winning momentum from Munster,” Scarlets Coach Nigel Davies told the club’s website. “But it has given us the opportunity to re-focus on other aspects of the game and we’ll be looking to transport our preparation to performance on Friday night.

“It will be a very physical battle, we’ve had close encounters with Connacht in the past; they’re a well respected outfit who always perform well and efficiently and are very capable of snatching results. We know that we need to match them physically with a mental edge to return from Athlone with a win” Nigel Davies.

Scarlets Team:
15. Lee BYRNE; 14. Aisea HAVILI; 13. Matthew J WATKINS; 12. Salesi FINAU; 11. Tal SELLEY; 10. Gareth BOWEN; 9. Mike PHILLIPS; 1. Phil JOHN; 2. Matthew REES; 3. John DAVIES; 4. Vernon COOPER; 5. Chris WYATT; 6. Jonathan MILLS; 7. Gavin THOMAS; 8. Andy POWELL;

Replacements:
16. Dorian WILLIAMS; 17. Aled GRAVELLE; 18. Adam JONES; 9. Ian BOOBYER; 20. Liam DAVIES; 21. Arwel THOMAS; 22. Mark TAYLOR