The Samoan Hooker arrived at the club this week on a short term contract until the end of this season as cover whilst Ken Owens recovers from a knee injury. Mahonri is an experienced international with 26 caps for Samoa and 8 caps for the Pacific Islanders and takes his place on the Phil Davies’s bench this weekend.
Stephen Jones and Liam Davies form the half-back partnership that are aiming to record the Scarlets’ first win in the competition this season.
Clermont beat Munster last weekend but couldn’t deny the red army a losing bonus point which effectively killed their own hopes due to the head-to-heads between the sides. It will be an against all odds progression for Clermont to now qualify.
The Scarlets have failed to pick up a single point in the pool of death and were thrashed 40-7 by Wasps. But Phil Davies’s men will be targeting next season already and will want to end their campaign with a confidence boosting win.
Clermont Auvergne back row forward Elvis Vermeulen says that his side will be mindful of how dangerous a wounded Scarlets side will be.
“The Scarlets are capable of playing some great rugby and it is going to be very tough for us to beat them, let alone get the bonus point, but we know what needs to be done and we will go out looking for the result,” he said.
“We need to focus on getting the result against Llanelli and then see what that means in terms of the permutations. We need to stay positive this week and not focus on what might have been.
“The spirit of this side is all about working together and moving forward as a team and that’s what we intend to do. We have beaten Wasps and Munster this season – the Heineken Cup champions of 2006 and 2007 – and that’s something to be very proud of, whether or not we get out of this Pool.
“And of course anything is possible in rugby so getting the bonus point against Llanelli Scarlets is not out of the question. If we can stay focused, and perform like we did in the first half against Munster last weekend, I think we still have a chance of coming out of this Pool. It’s not over until it’s over.”
Llanelli Scarlets: C Thomas; D James, M Watkins, G Evans, M Jones; S Jones, L Davies; I Thomas, M Rees, D Manu, A Eustace, S MacLeod, S Easterby (Capt), G Thomas, D Jones
Replacements: M Schwalger, B Broster, N Thomas, A Popham, G Cattle, D Daniel, M Stoddart
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
