Skipper Heaslip wary of new-look Scarlets

It was an encouraging backdrop for the country’s four regions, a blank slate on which to enter a new PRO12 era fronted by Guinness and Sky, and the hope is that the newly discovered calm at home allows them to make waves further afield. The opening weekend didn’t exactly signify a sea change, with Ospreys and Cardiff recording predictable wins against Italian opposition, Dragons losing at the Sportsgrounds and the Scarlets being pegged back for a draw at home by Ulster.
Today’s visitors to the RDS arrive with a new coach in Kiwi Wayne Pivac, who originally signed up for a brief as forwards coach before being catapulted into the hot seat by Simon Easterby’s switch to Joe Schmidt’s Ireland backroom. Jonathan Davies was another high-profile loss over the summer but the region has recruited some decent stock in the likes of No.8 Rory Pitman from Wasps, centre Regan King from Clermont Auvergne and back row Chris Hala’ufia from London Irish. The latter two are unavailable today, as is fellow arrival and Fijian wing Michael Tagicakibau, as the visitors seek to end a winless streak at the Dublin venue stretching back to 2007.