Scarlets coach Wayne Pivac has showered the Ospreys with praise before he hopes to ruin their festivities with a Boxing Day victory in Llanelli.
The Scarlets have won their last 15 matches at Parc y Scarlets in the Guinness PRO14 and are looking to consolidate their position at the top of Conference B. The home side welcome back Hadleigh Parkes, Aaron Shingler and John Barclay.
The Ospreys’ ambitions over the festive period are to use their back-to-back European Rugby Champions Cup victories over Northampton Saints to boost their domestic form.
Steve Tandy’s side currently sit bottom of Conference A, five points adrift from second-bottom Zebre.
At Parc y Scarlets, Parkes will partner Scott Williams in midfield with Paul Asquith moving onto the bench.
Shingler and Barclay return to blindside flanker and No 8 respectively with Ken Owens skippering the home side from the front row.
With Ospreys having found their feet of late, Scarlets’ head coach Wayne Pivac knows that a tough test awaits.
“Regardless of how the Ospreys are playing up until this particular match we’ve got nothing but respect for them because of the quality that they’ve got in their squad,” said Pivac.
“They work very hard, they’re a very proud club and they’ve got the history to back that up. We’re preparing for a strong Ospreys opposition regardless of the side they put out. We know that they’re a formidable side when they bring their ‘A’ game.”
Ospreys scored 10 tries en route to their successive Champions Cup victories and Tandy has opted to select the same XV as the one that started against Northampton at the Liberty Stadium last weekend.
As a result, Rhys Webb and Dan Biggar take two places on the region’s bench and both internationals will be keen to make an impact when required.
“Christmas rugby is all about derby fixtures against your big rivals and with three physical, keenly contested games in 12 days, everybody is really excited about the next couple of weeks,” Tandy said.
“These games are always great occasions with big crowds, the kind of games that we all love as players, coaches and supporters. It’s important for us to use the momentum we’ve started building and the energy that comes with these derby matches to drive us on.
“For us, it’s not about local pride, or getting one over local rivals, but ensuring we get a run of performances under our belt that will make the supporters proud and allow us to put ourselves back in contention at the right end of the table.”
Ospreys’ most recent victory at Parc y Scarlets was back on Boxing Day 2015 and the Scarlets have won their last two matches against their regional rivals.
Scarlets: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Johnny McNicholl, 13 Scott Williams, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Dan Jones, 9 Gareth Davies, 1 Rob Evans, 2 Ken Owens (c), 3 Werner Kruger, 4 Tadhg Beirne, 5 David Bulbring, 6 Aaron Shingler, 7 James Davies, 8 John Barclay.
Replacements; 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Simon Gardiner, 19 Steven Cummins, 20 Josh Macleod, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Rhys Patchell, 23 Paul Asquith.
Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 Ben John, 13 Kieron Fonotia, 12 Owen Watkin, 11 Jeff Hassler, 10 Sam Davies, 9 Tom Habberfield, 1 Nicky Smith, 2 Scott Baldwin, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 4 Bradley Davies, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 6 Dan Lydiate, 7 Justin Tipuric, 8 Olly Cracknell.
Replacements: 16 Scott Otten, 17 Paul James, 18 Ma’afu Fia, 19 Adam Beard, 20 Rob McCusker, 21 Rhys Webb, 22 Dan Biggar, 23 Ashley Beck.
