Leinster winger James Lowe has warned his teammates to beware the Scarlets if they want to make it through to the semi-finals of the United Rugby Championship play-offs.
The Ireland wing has highlighted the Scarlets’ good form and kicking game as serious threats to Leinster’s title ambitions.
Lowe, who featured in the 2018 final where Leinster edged out Scarlets in a 40-32 thriller, is one of five Leinster players from that day returning for the quarter-final play-off clash on Saturday.
With memories of a recent defeat in Llanelli still fresh, he knows the challenge Scarlets bring to the Aviva Stadium this weekend.
“The Scarlets are obviously an exciting Welsh side, who are probably one of the in-form teams,” Lowe said.
“They’ve fought their way into the eighth spot. They’ve knocked over ourselves and the Bulls in that run up.
“If you look across even just the back three, it’s an international back three that we’re coming up against, and a 10 who likes to pick corners.
“So, it’s an exciting game that I think we’ll have on our hands. But sure, look, we’re ready for the challenge."
Leinster finished top of the table during the regular season, but their only two defeats came at the hands of the Bulls and Scarlets — a clear sign that this quarter-final is far from a foregone conclusion.
“They’re young and highly exciting. They literally put us in exit cycles, the last time we played against them.
“They were pinning corners. They’ve got right and left footers. They’ve got two long, rangy wingers who are great in the air attacking the ball," Lowe continued.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if they reverted back to that, because they were able to beat us over there playing that style of game. It’s up to us to make sure we get our stuff right, nullify all that they throw at us.
“As a winger, there’s a lot to wrap your head around, going into a game like this.
READ MORE: Josh Macleod Tells Scarlets: We Need Five Tries And Massive Defence To Beat Leinster
Reflecting on their April defeat, Lowe added: “They just kept pinning us back. A little bit of scoreboard pressure made sure they stayed in the game throughout the whole 80 minutes.
“If you look at the way they pinned us back, that’s obviously a big part of my game to try and nullify that: their attacking kicks, their ability to get it to a wide channel.
“Their box kicking was exceptional when we didn’t get kick pressure on them. Their wingers are big boys, six foot three or four, long and rangy, great in the air — there’s a lot of little intricate bits that, if we get right, we can try to take away from them.”
Scarlets coach Dwayne Peel, meanwhile, urged his side to relish the opportunity:
“There's no greater task than going to Dublin and we're looking forward to that challenge. We won't shy away from it. You've got to have confidence in your own group when you go there.”
READ MORE: Three Scarlets Youngsters In The Race For URC Awards
After a 35-22 victory against a second-string Leinster last month, Scarlets have not won successive matches against the Irish side since 2015, but know they will be facing a different proposition this weekend.
"There's no greater task than going to Dublin and we're looking forward to that challenge," said Peel.
"We won't shy away from it, you've got to have confidence in your own group when you go there.
"As much as they have some world-class names in their group, we've got some pretty good players and we're going to go there and give it the best we can."
With former Wales scrum-half Gareth Davies injured, Scarlets have named an unchanged 23 from the final day league defeat against Stormers in Cape Town.
Leinster are missing Ireland centres Robbie Henshaw and Garry Ringrose and British and Irish Lions prop Tadhg Furlong.
They still include New Zealand centre Jordie Barrett with the star-studded side led by Lions number eight Jack Conan, with Ireland hooker Dan Sheehan and South Africa lock RG Snyman among the replacements.
READ MORE: Dwayne Peel Insists The Best Argument For The Scarlets' Survival Is To Keep Winning
