Scarlets v Castres: Teams
Scarlets will be hoping to mark their 100th game in the Heineken Cup with victory over Castres on Saturday.
Last Updated: 11/11/11 1:20pm
Scarlets will be hoping to mark their 100th game in the Heineken Cup with a home victory over Castres on Saturday.
The RaboDirect Pro12 club will become the first Welsh region to reach the milestone when they kick off their campaign in Pool 1 at Parc y Scarlets.
The hosts have Wales' RBS 6 Nations skipper Matthew Rees starting at hooker, while George North, one of the stand-out young players of Wales' World Cup campaign, starts in his first European fixture on the wing.
Other World Cup internationals Jon Davies, Sean Lamont, Tavis Knoyle, Stephen Jones and Scott Williams are also selected in the backs.
"This tournament is where you pit yourselves against the best and it's the competition that all of us are excited by and look forward to," said head coach Nigel Davies.
"We go into the game have gained some momentum and with some bonus point wins under our belt.
"There's a great energy around our environment at the moment, on the back of some momentum which the team has built now and it's great to see all the boys getting back together and motivated as a Scarlets group for this game."
Physical
Davies expects a tough challenge against a powerful Castres side that sees Chris Masoe included at flanker.
Iosefa Tekori and Steve Malonga join the former New Zealand international in the back row, with French international prop Luc Ducalcon also selected in a strong-looking pack.
"We know Castres are very physical as most French sides are and will be difficult to play against and they have some good players in their team," the Scarlets chief.
"The battle will be on physicality and drive and the boys know that.
"I'm excited about the quality and depth we have building here at the Scarlets; we seen some really great potential and talent from a number of our new young Scarlets and if we can get our set piece functioning we know what potential we have in attack behind the scrum."
Scarlets: 15 Liam Williams, 14 George North, 13 Scott Williams, 12 Jonathan Davies, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Tavis Knoyle, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Jon Edwards, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Damian Welch, 4 Dominic Day, 3 Rhys Thomas, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Iestyn Thomas.
Replacements: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Phil John, 18 Rhodri Jones, 19 Sione Timani, 20 Richard Pugh, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Rhys Priestland, 23 Daniel Evans.
Castres: 15 Romain Teulet, 14 Matthieu Nicolas, 13 Paul Bonnefond, 12 Romain Cabannes, 11 Marc Andreu, 10 Rémi Tales, 9 Thierry Lacrampe, 8 Iosefa Tekori, 7 Steve Malonga, 6 Chris Masoe, 5 Rodrigo Capo Ortega, 4 Matthias Rolland, 3 Luc Ducalcon, 2 Marc-Antoine Rallier, 1 Anton Peikrishvili.
Replacements: 16 Brice Mach, 17 Michaël Coetzee, 18 Karena Wihongi, 19 Scott Murray, 20 Jannie Bornman, 21 Thomas Sanchou, 22 Pierre Bernard, 23 Pierre-Manuel Garcia.
