Scarlets boss Wayne Pivac looking to make the most of home advantage
By PA Sport
Last Updated: 20/10/17 9:10am
Scarlets' boss Wayne Pivac has described Friday's European Champions Cup clash against Bath as "a must-win match."
Pivac's team pushed three-time European champions Toulon all the way in France last Sunday, before going down 21-20.
But a losing bonus point collected at Stade Felix-Mayol could yet prove important in their quest to qualify from Pool 5.
And Pivac has called on his players to build on that performance when Bath arrive in west Wales.
"We see it as a must-win match," he said. "It's a home game and to do well in this competition you have to win your home games and then be successful on the road at some stage.
"We got a bonus point out in Toulon but for that to have an impact we have to back it up with a win on Friday.
"They are going to be a tough opponent. They will want to get a win on the road first up against us.
"We don't change too much. We've had success playing a certain way. We are not far off against some of the best sides going around."
Wales and British and Irish Lions hooker Ken Owens returns to skipper the Scarlets, while Hadleigh Parkes partners Jonathan Davies in midfield and Gareth Davies is handed the number nine shirt.
Bath, unconvincing winners against Treviso last weekend, will be without their South African back-row forward Francois Louw after he received a three-week ban for making contact with the eye area of Treviso lock Marco Fuser in the opening round.
"We are disappointed to lose Francois for three weeks, but accept the decision," Bath rugby director Todd Blackadder told the club's official website.
"There was absolutely no malice in Francois' actions, and there was another incident at the time for which the opposition player was cited. However, we all know that you cannot put your hands on someone's face due to the risk to player safety."
Zach Mercer, Sam Underhill and Taulupe Faletau form Bath's back-row, while fly-half Rhys Priestland returns to Parc-y-Scarlets to line out against his former team.
Scarlets: 15 Leigh Halfpenny; 14 Johnny McNicholl, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Hadleigh Parkes,11 Steffan Evans; 10 Rhys Patchell, 9 Gareth Davies; 1 Wyn Jones, 2 Ken Owens (c), 3 Samson Lee, 4 Jake Ball, 5 Lewis Rawlins, 6 Aaron Shingler, 7 Will Boyde, 8 Tadhg Beirne
Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Dylan Evans, 18 Werner Kruger, 19 David Bulbring, 20 Joshua Macleod, 21 Jonathan Evans, 22 Paul Asquith, 23 Scott Williams
Bath Rugby: 15 Anthony Watson; 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Max Clark, 11 Aled Brew; 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Kahn Fotuali'i; 1 Beno Obano, 2 Tom Dunn, 3 Anthony Perenise, 4 Charlie Ewels (c), 5 Luke Charteris, 6 Zach Mercer, 7 Sam Underhill, 8 Taulupe Faletau
Replacements: 16 Jack Walker, 17 Nathan Catt, 18 Scott Andrews, 19 Elliott Stooke, 20 Paul Grant, 21 Darren Allinson, 22 Josh Lewis, 23 Matt Banahan