L Irish v Scarlets: Teams

Lock Nick Kennedy has been handed the London Irish captaincy for the Exiles' LV= Cup contest with Scarlets at the Majedski Stadium on Sunday.

Usual skipper Clarke Dermody is still absent and the responsibility has been passed from the centre to Kennedy for the visit of the Welsh side.

Flanker Richard Thorpe returns to the squad for the first time since August but will have to settle for a place on the bench after recovering from an elbow injury.

Teenage lock Kieran Low will make his full debut for an Exiles team that is attempting to bounce back from a 39-14 defeat to Sale in their LV= Cup opener.

Big challenge

The Scarlets will be hoping to repeat their memorable 27-25 victory at the Madejski in last season's Heineken Cup.

They made the perfect start to their LV= Cup campaign with a crushing 52-13 win against Leeds and keep many of the faces, including hat-rick scorer Jonny Fa'amatuainu, in their starting XV to face the Exiles.

Centre Scott Williams and fly-half Dan Newton are able to keep their places in the side after being released from international training with Wales.

Back-rower Johnathan Edwards returns from injury and Dominic Day is handed a start at lock, while Andy Fenby is among the replacements.

"We know that it's going to be a big challenge on Sunday against a strong team but this is the kind of experience players like ours thrive on and I am really pleased with how this group is progressing and the competition we are creating in this squad," head coach Nigel Davies said.

London Irish: 15 Jamie Lennard, 14 Marcus Watson, 13 Elvis Seveali'I, 12 Daniel Bowden, 11 Jonathan Joseph, 10 Chris Malone, 9 Darren Allinson; 8 Chris Hala'ufia, 7 Steffon Armitage, 6 Kieran Low, 5 Matt Garvey, 4 Nick Kennedy (capt), 3 Faan Rautenbach, 2 David Paice, 1 Dan Murphy.
Replacements: 16 James Buckland, 17 Alex Corbisiero, 18 Paulica Ion, 19. Bob Casey, 20 Richard Thorpe, 21 Topsy Ojo, 22 Marland Yarde, 23 Ryan Lamb.

Scarlets: 15 Daniel Evans, 14 Lee Rees, 13 Nick Reynolds, 12 Scott Williams, 11 Lee Williams, 10 Dan Newton, 9 Martin Roberts, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Johnathan Edwards, 6 Jonny Fa'amatuainu, 5 Dominic Day, 4 Aaron Shingler, 3 Peter Edwards, 2 Emyr Phillips, 1 Phil John (capt).
Replacements: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Rhodri Jones, 18 Simon Gardiner, 19 Damian Welch, 20 Nic Cudd, 21 Gareth Davies, 22