Scarlets v Glasgow Warriors: Champions Cup preview
By Tony Tighe
Last Updated: 20/12/15 5:15pm
DTH van der Merwe is looking forward to facing Glasgow wing Teqele Naiyaravoro in Saturday's Champions Cup return fixture.
Forced to watch last weekend's fixture on television due to a thumb injury, Van der Merwe saw his former side canter to a 43-6 victory with Naiyaravoro grabbing a hat-trick.
Van der Merwe won the Guinness PRO12 with Glasgow last season before moving to Wales, with Naiyaravoro replacing him at Scotstoun.
And the Canadian World Cup star says the Scarlets will be better prepared when Naiyaravoro and Glasgow visit Parc y Scarlets.
"He was very impressive, he's a hard running guy," said Van der Merwe, who returns to the left wing.
"I think we gave him too much ball. You can't give him forward motion; he scored what could have been five tries.
"We will have to try and take that space away and put him under a little more pressure. I'll put shoulder pads on and get the head taped up and away to go!"
The Scarlets sit top of the PRO12 with eight wins from their opening nine games but their Champions Cup hopes are all but over after three successive losses.
Head coach Wayne Pivac has made nine changes to his starting line-up with Aled Thomas taking the reins at fly-half and Wales internationals Rob Evans, Samson Lee and Jake Ball named in the pack.
Steff Evans starts at full-back to form a back three with Michael Collins and Van der Merwe while 21-year-old flanker Jack Condy makes his first Scarlets start.
Glasgow hand starts to Scotland duo Finn Russell and Mark Bennett but full-back Stuart Hogg is a notable absentee from the match-day 23.
Tommy Seymour wears the No 15 shirt with Sean Lamont named on the wing against his former club.
Prop Alex Allan makes his first start since October while Rob Harley comes into the back-row alongside Josh Struass and Simone Favaro.
"Last weekend was a great result for the club but we know Scarlets will be determined to bounce back and we'll be in for a tough battle," said Warriors head coach Gregor Townsend.
"It's a very important game and we'll be aiming to improve on our performance from the home tie."
Scarlets: 15 Michael Collins, 14 Steffan Evans, 13 Gareth Owen, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 DTH van der Merwe, 10 Aled Thomas, 9 Gareth Davies; 1 Rob Evans, 2 Emyr Phillips (c), 3 Samson Lee, 4 Jake Ball, 5 Maselino Paulino, 6 Lewis Rawlins, 7 Jack Condy, 8 Morgan Allen.
Replacements: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Rhodri Jones, 19 George Earle, 20 Tom Price, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Steve Shingler, 23 Harry Robinson.
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Tommy Seymour, 14 Taqele Naiyaravoro, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Mike Blair; 1 Alex Allan, 2 Fraser Brown, 3 Sila Puafisi, 4 Leone Nakarawa, 5 Jonny Gray (c), 6 Rob Harley, 7 Simone Favaro, 8 Josh Strauss.
Replacements: 16 Shalva Mamukashvili, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Ryan Wilson, 21 Grayson Hart, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Lee Jones.