Cardiff Blues coach Danny Wilson has opted against a derby day debut for Willis Halaholo.
The New Zealander arrived in Wales this week, fresh from a Super Rugby title winning season with the Hurricanes.
But Wilson has resisted the temptation to throw the centre into Friday night’s Guinness Pro 12 clash against the Scarlets at the Arms Park and has opted to stick with a midfield of Halaholo’s former teammate Rey Lee-Lo and Cory Allen.
Wilson said: “Willis has looked good in training but he is still getting up to speed with our calls and attacking shape.
“We required back-three cover on the bench and Dan Fish gives us this but I’m looking forward to seeing Willis out there in the coming weeks.”
Josh Turnbull will captain the Blues against his former region as Wilson makes seven changes after two rounds of European rugby.
Both sides are without most of their Wales squad members, although the Blues have been boosted by the release of Rhys Gill and Lloyd Williams.
The match will make a first return to the Arms Park for Scarlets flay-half Rhys Patchell, who left the Blues in the summer in order to gain regular rugby in the No.10 shirt.
Wilson added: “The derbies are our biggest games, they are where we get our biggest crowds and hopefully that will still be the case without some of the internationals.
“It’s a challenge we are ready to meet and we certainly have a squad of players who are hungry and excited to play in that derby. Hopefully they will put a performance in to get another home win.
“The Scarlets are always a very tough fixture, they are playing with a shape that gives them a lot of width at the moment and are playing a high-temp wide game which we will have to deal with.
“We have to make sure our defensive display is as good as it has been at times this season and that we can test them with our attacking game.
“It is still a derby, it will still have that edge and it’s a home game against the Scarlets.”
Patchell has started every competitive game for the Scarlets at fly-half this season – six in the Pro12 and two in the European Champions Cup – and is one of eight survivors from last weekend’s 44-26 defeat to Saracens at Allianz Park.
Scarlets coach Wayne Pivac said: “It was a mixture of good and bad (against Saracens).
“The good was that we were happy to score 26 points. That’s the most they’ve had scored against them since 2014, so I’m told.
“But defensively we let ourselves down. There were a couple of instances when we left massive holes in the line, which isn’t the way we train and play. We let ourselves down and they strolled across for a couple of seven-pointers.”
As for the challenge of the sixth-placed Blues, who sit one spot and five points above the Scarlets after six matches, Pivac added: “They are very physical and have a good set-piece, which Danny (Wilson) prides himself on. Last year they got the better of us physically. It’s a derby and we have to make sure we are up for the challenge.”
The Blues are captained by former Scarlet Josh Turnbull, who switches to openside flanker, while hooker Kirby Myhill and South African second row George Earle also start against their old team-mates.
CARDIFF BLUES: Matthew Morgan; Blaine Scully, Cory Allen, Rey Lee-Lo, Tom James; Steve Shingler, Tomos Williams; Rhys Gill, Kirby Myhill, Taufa’ao Filise, George Earle, James Down, Macauley Cook, Cam Dolan, Josh Turnbull (capt). Reps: Matthew Rees, Brad Thyer, Dillon Lewis, Seb Lewis, Shane Lewis-Hughes, Lloyd Williams, Jarrod Evans, Dan Fish.
SCARLETS: Aled Thomas; DTH van der Merwe, Steff Hughes, Hadleigh Parkes (capt), Steff Evans; Rhys Patchell, Jonathan Evans; Wyn Jones, Ryan Elias, Werner Kruger, Tom Price, David Bulbring, Aaron Shingler, John Barclay, Will Boyde. Reps: Emyr Phillips, Dylan Evans, Peter Edwards, Lewis Rawlins, James Davies, Aled Davies, Dan Jones, Ioan Nicholas.
