Scarlets v Northampton Saints: Champions Cup Preview
By Robert Mulhern
Last Updated: 23/01/16 5:00pm
Tom Wood is relishing Saturday's final round Champions Cup fixture against Scarlets and believes Northampton can still make the quarter-finals.
Jim Mallinder's men kept themselves in the race for the last-eight with a 19-15 victory over Glasgow Warriors last weekend. The win gave the Saints 14 points from five rounds of Champions Cup action.
Clermont Auvergne and Stade Francais also go into the final round with 14 points, with Wasps on 15 ahead of their make-or-break clash with Leinster.
But after being sidelined with injury, and having failed to make Eddie Jones' England squad, Wood is eager to put recent disappointments behind him.
"I can't wait," he told Sky Sports. "If we can qualify from this European group, which we have a chance of doing, things will start to look up again.
"You know, I've been out for five or six weeks with injury and I'm just enjoying being on the pitch with the lads. Obviously, I've got the bit between my teeth a little bit now and a point to prove and I'm looking forward to doing that."
Scarlets suffered a record European defeat when Racing 92 thrashed them 64-14 last Sunday, but wing Steffan Hughes wants to finish the Pool 3 campaign on a winning note.
"It'll be tough but like any other game we'll prepare well beforehand," he said. "It's just another game, you prepare well in the week and then it comes down to the day."
Scarlets: 15 Mike Collins, 14 Tom Williams, 13 Regan King, 12 Steven Shingler, 11 DTH van der Merwe, 10 Aled Thomas, 9 Gareth Davies, 1 Phil John, 2 Ken Owens (c), 3 Samson Lee, 4 Tom Price, 5 Maselino Paulino, 6 Aaron Shingler, 7 Will Boyde, 8 Morgan Allen.
Replacements: 16. Kirby Myhill, 17 Dylan Evans, 18 Rhodri Jones, 19 Lewis Rawlins, 20 Tom Phillips, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Josh Lewis, 23 Steff Hughes.
Northampton Saints: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Jamie Elliott, 13 George Pisi, 12 Harry Mallinder, 11 George North, 10 Steve Myler, 9 Tom Kessell; 1 Alex Waller, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 3 Paul Hill, 4 Courtney Lawes, 5 Christian Day, 6 Jamie Gibson, 7 Tom Wood, 8 Sam Dickinson.
Replacements: 16 Mikey Haywood, 17 Ethan Waller, 18 Gareth Denman, 19 Michael Paterson, 20 Jonathan Fisher, 21 Lee Dickson, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23 Luther Burrell.
Watch Scarlets v Saints live on Sky Sports 2 HD on Saturday from 5pm. Catch the match for £6.99 on NOW TV. No contract.