Allen missed the narrow Round 5 defeat at Richmond, 34-32, having put his side at the top of Pool 4 with two tries in the bonus point triumph over Leinster A at Carmarthen Park in Round 4. Now he hopes to inspire his side to a fourth win of the campaign over Nottingham in a winner-takes all clash.
Nottingham are two points behind the Scarlets with one game to go and will be smarting from their 33-11 defeat at home against their Welsh rivals. They moved to within a victory of taking over at the top of the pool with an impressive 28-24 home win over Leinster A last weekend.
“We were all bitterly disappointed with the result against Richmond last week. The result, and victory, were in our hands, but we let it slip. Having said that, the experience will serve the young players well going forward,” said Scarlets coach Dai Flanagan.
“Nottingham offer a very different challenge to us today. They’re a very good team, and similarly to Richmond, are much changed from earlier on in the season and much improved.
“We’ve said from the outset that we want to qualify from the pool stages and that target hasn’t changed. We’ve exposed a lot of young players to a higher standard of rugby as they all push for further honours.
“It’s important that we remember what this competition is about, to develop and nurture the future generation of regional players.”
Cardiff Blues game against London Scottish at the Athletic Ground, Richmond, in Pool 1 has been cancelled due to a frozen pitch. Neither side can qualify for the last eight.
The Ospreys head to Reading to face London Irish at the Madejski Stadium looking for a second win of the campaign. The Exiles are top of the pool with a perfect record of five wins out of five matches and are already through to the quarter-finals.
Having pushed the English Championship leaders all the way in their Round 1 encounter before finally going down 25-14, the Ospreys will be keen to put in a big performance against the highest ranked team in the tournament. The home side include former England wing Topsy Ojo, Scottish outside half Greig Tonks and England flanker Luke Narraway in their 23.
“We were really disappointed with last weekend (34-10 defeat to Cornish Pirates). It was always going to be tough with the poor conditions against a big, organised outfit like Pirates, but we felt that our mistakes compounded the issue, allowing them to play to their strengths in our territory,” said Ospreys coach Tom Smith.
“There has been a lot of learning this week and throughout the whole competition for this young group, and we are looking to finish on a high against London Irish.”
The Dragons PS XV will have home advantage at the Bridge Field, Bedwas, for their final fixture in Pool 5 when they host Bedford Blues. They were beaten 46-33 in the Round 1 game in England and went down to a 56-19 defeat at Ealing Trialfinders last weekend.
Head coach James Chapron has picked five members of the Wales Under 20 squad is his matchday 23 – Arwel Robson, Conor Edwards, Jared Rosser, Ellis Shipp and Chris Coleman.
“The first thing that we have to look at is seeing how the players bounce back from what was a poor performance last weekend. I think if they have aspirations to move forward in their careers then they have to learn from bad events and learn how to fix them,” said Chapron.
“It’s an opportunity, as everyone in that squad has something to play for, regardless of the result, on personal levels. For the academy boys it’s about their next steps and contracts, and for the semi-professional boys it’s seeing if anyone else can do what Robson Blake and Ashley Sweet have done.
“Then for the senior boys, the coaches are going to watch the game so they have to perform at that level if they want to break back into the starting team. The result is important but the whole point of the BIC is to provide opportunities for players at a higher level of competition and see how they perform and we have another opportunity to do that this weekend.”
Scarlets PS XV: Dion Jones; Ashley Evans, Richard Smith, Gareth Owen, Ryan Conbeer; Jack Maynard, Rhodri Davies; Gethin Robinson, Torin Myhill, Nicky Thomas, Josh Helps, Rynier Bernardo, Tom Phillips, Josh Macleod, Morgan Allen (captain)
Reps: Rhys Fawcett, Greg George, Simon Gardiner, Phil Day, Jack Condy, Connor Lloyd, Billy McBryde
Ospreys PS XV: Phil Jones; Jay Baker, Joe Thomas, Kieran Williams, Tom O’Flaherty; Luke Price, Matthew Aubrey; Rowan Jenkins, Hugh Gustafson (captain), Alex Jeffries, Matthew Dodd, James Ratti, Joe Tomalin-Reeves, Will Jones, Charlie Davies
Reps: Ifan Phillips, Ollie Evans, Mitchell Walsh, Jack Pope, Lee Purnell, Ed Howley, Andrew Claypole
Dragons PS XV: Josh Prosser (Cross Keys); Jared Rosser (Dragons / Ebbw Vale), Connor Edwards (Dragons / Bedwas), Jack Dixon (Dragons), David Evans (Bargoed); Arwel Robson (Dragons / Newport), Charlie Davies (Dragons, captain); Keagan Bale (Dragons), Ellis Shipp (Dragons Academy / Cross Keys), Chris Coleman (Dragons Academy / Newport), Joe Davies (Dragons), Ashley Sweet (Dragons), James Thomas (Dragons), Nathan Hudd (Dragons Academy / Bedwas), Robson Blake (Dragons / Bedwas)
Reps: Darran Harris (Dragons), John Lavender (Newport), Ken Dowding (Bedwas), Henri Williams (Dragons Academy / Newport), Andrew Waite (Bedwas), Owen Davies (Dragons / Newport), Matt O’Brien (Newport)
