Wasps v Scarlets: Teams

London Wasps director of rugby Tony Hanks will be without a number of his international stars for the visit of the Scarlets in the LV= Cup on Saturday.

With the RBS Six Nations Championship set to kick-off next week, Wasps will be without their England EPS and Saxons players for the match.

However Hanks is able to call on the experience of Joe Worsley, who will make his return from the knee injury he suffered in November.

New signing Sakaria Taulafo is also set to start, while on the bench there are call ups for academy front rowers Tom Lindsay and Bob Baker as well as former rugby league international Lee Smith.

"It's an important game for both sides and our visitors form in the last two weeks of the Heineken Cup has been very impressive; beating a very good London Irish team and winning away to Brive," said Hanks.

"The absence of our internationals and Saxons provides opportunities for us to make full use of our squad against a strong Welsh outfit.

"Despite our injury concerns, I think it shows the growth and development of the squad making the Amlin quarter-finals while still challenging for a semi-final place in the LV=Cup."

Experience

The Scarlets have been buoyed by the inclusion of Wales and Lions hooker Matthew Rees in their squad for the trip to London.

Rees has been released by Wales to play in the clash and he will add some much-needed experience to the side, with the Scarlets having opted to rest a number of players.

However Regan King returns to the bench after almost 11 months out, while Rob Higgitt will skipper the side.

"It's great for us to see Regan back and fit again but we have to recognise and respect just how long he's been out, so we are not expecting a great deal from him in these early games," said Davies.

"We have brought back a lot of players who haven't played since the last round of LV= Cup games. They played particularly well during that phase of our season and certainly gave us a lift at that time.

"A number of these players have been itching for another opportunity and will be really up for this game."

Wasps: 15 Mark Van Gisbergen, 14 Tom Varndell, 13 Ben Jacobs, 12 Steve Kefu, 11 David Lemi, 10 Dave Walder , 9 Warren Fury, 8 John Hart (c), 7 Will Matthews, 6 Joe Worsley, 5 Dan Leo, 4 Marty Veale, 3 Ben Broster, 2 Joe Ward, 1 Sakaria Taulafo.
Replacements:16 Tom Lindsay, 17 Gabriel Bocca, 18 Bob Baker, 19 Hugo Ellis, 20 Mark Odejobi, 21 James Honeyben, 22 Lachlan Mitchell, 23 Lee Smith.

Scarlets: 15 Daniel Evans, 14 Lee Williams, 13 Gareth Maule, 12 Rob Higgitt (captain), 11 Andy Fenby, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Tavis Knoyle, 8 Josh Turnbull, 7Johnathan Edwards, 6 Rob McCusker, 5 Damian Welch, 4 Lou Reed, 3 Deacon Manu, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Phil John.
Replacements: 16 Iestyn Thomas, 17 Emyr Phillips, 18 Rhys Thomas, 19 Vernon Cooper, 20 Richie Pugh, 21 Daniel Newton, 22 Regan King 23 Joe Ajuwa.