Scarlets name team for Pro14 semi-final that includes Halfpenny's replacement
Head coach Wayne Pivac has selected a strong side for the clash with Glasgow Warriors; one peppered with international talent both in the pack and across the backline.
Scarlets will take on the Warriors in the Guinness PRO14 semi-final on Friday night at Scotstoun Stadium as the West Wales region look to secure a victory for an opportunity to retain the trophy in Dublin next weekend.
Conference A leaders Glasgow secured a home semi-final after an impressive season in the cross-conference competition, finishing seven points clear of second-placed Munster at the end of the regular season games.
The Scarlets will take on Glasgow after securing a victory over newcomers Cheetahs in the quarter-final and will be hoping to see a repeat of last year’s successes to pave the way to the final, to be held once again in Dublin’s Aviva Stadium, on Saturday 26th May.
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With Leigh Halfpenny unavailable due to a hamstring injury, sustained in the quarter-final clash against Cheetahs, Scarlets have been forced to make one change to the backline. Kiwi Johnny Mcnicholl makes a timely recovery from shoulder injury to take Halfpenny’s place at fullback.
Two personnel changes upfront see Aaron Shingler returning to the starting XV, which in turn sees fans favourite Tadhg Beirne return to the second row to partner Steve Cummins with Lewis Rawlins moving to the replacements bench.
Looking ahead to the game Head Coach Wayne Pivac said; “They’ve got a very good record at home. They play on a different surface, which they’re used to, so they have a bit of an advantage there, but it’s 80 minutes of knockout rugby. We think we’re in a reasonably good position in terms of our form going in to it.
“We’re really looking forward to it. We have a lot of respect for Glasgow, they have a good coaching group, some greats players and they’ve got a very strong home record. It makes for a good match-up. Both teams like to play, use the width of the field, and with that type of play it could be a great game.
“Boys enjoy knockout rugby and they enjoy being in these situations. We’re going in there with the mindset that we need to secure a top performance to be able to get on the right side of the ledger.”
Scarlets team to take on Glasgow in the Guinness PRO14 semi final, Scotstoun Stadium, Friday 18th May;
15 Johnny McNicholl, 14 Tom Prydie, 13 Scott Williams, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Rhys Patchell, 9 Gareth Davies, 1 Rob Evans, 2 Ken Owens ©, 3 Samson Lee, 4 Tadhg Beirne, 5 Steve Cummins, 6 Aaron Shingler, 7 James Davies, 8 John Barclay
Replacements; Ryan Elias, Wyn Jones, Werner Kruger, Lewis Rawlins, Will Boyde, Jonathan Evans, Dan Jones, Steff Hughes
Meanwhile, it will be the last official outing for Finn Russell as a Glasgow player, for the time being at least.
Russell, who is leaving the club in the summer, kicked a late touchline conversion in the club’s last home Semi-Final to win the game and 10,000 Warriors supporters will be hoping for another inspired performance from their fly-half against the reigning Champions.
George Horne will partner Russell at scrum-half with Sam Johnson and Nick Grigg starting in midfield. Johnson returns to the side having missed the final game of the regular season against Edinburgh.
Tommy Seymour was also missing at BT Murrayfield that day and he returns to the starting XV and will play alongside DTH van der Merwe and Stuart Hogg in the back three.
Jonny Gray is also fit to play and starts alongside Tim Swinson in the second-row. Ahead of them Jamie Bhatti, Fraser Brown and Zander Fagerson complete the tight forwards.
Ryan Wilson captains the side from Number 8 as Matt Fagerson and Callum Gibbins start on the flanks.
Peter Horne was another player to miss the game against Edinburgh and he is named on an experienced bench that includes club centurions Rob Harley, Chris Fusaro, Henry Pyrgos and Ruaridh Jackson.
Glasgow Warriors Head Coach Dave Rennie said: “At the start of the season our goal was to be playing finals footy at home in front of our family and friends and we’re excited to be running out in front of a 10,000 strong Scotstoun tomorrow night.
“We’ve prepared well and it’s great to be able to bring back Jonny (Gray), Sam (Johnson) Pete (Horne)and Tommy (Seymour) who were late withdrawals ahead of our last game.”
“Scarlets are a quality side, they’re reigning Champions for a reason and we’re looking forward to the challenge on what is will be a special night for our players and supporters.”
Glasgow Warriors appearances in brackets:
15. Stuart Hogg
14. Tommy Seymour
13. Nick Grigg
12. Sam Johnson
11. DTH van der Merwe
10. Finn Russell
9. George Horne
1. Jamie Bhatti
2. Fraser Brown
3. Zander Fagerson
4. Tim Swinson
5. Jonny Gray
6. Matt Fagerson
7. Callum Gibbins
8. Ryan Wilson CAPTAIN
Replacements:
16. George Turner
17. Alex Allan
18. Siua Halanukonuka
19. Rob Harley
20. Chris Fusaro
21. Henry Pyrgos
22. Peter Horne
23. Ruaridh Jackson
Not available due to injury: Adam Ashe (ankle), Oli Kebble (ankle), Pat MacArthur (shoulder), Leo Sarto (shoulder).
Comments on RugbyPass
Wasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
30 Go to comments