Jones left out of Scarlets side to face Connacht

The Scarlets coach Nigel Davies has opted to leave Stephen Jones on the bench and retain Rhys Preistland at out-half ahead of their Magner’s League encounter with Connacht at The Sportsground on Friday evening.

"We've lost over there in the past so Friday has the makings of a very difficult game. However, the fact that we're fighting for this league focuses the mind a little bit which isn't a bad thing,” said Davies.

"Connacht's a tough place to go; it's a small field, normally windy and they play a basic game very well. They'll be physical as ever and they'll kick for territory so we'll have to manage that particularly well".

THE SCARLETS: M Stoddart; D Daniel, R King, J Davies, G Morris; R Priestland, M Roberts; p John, M Rees, D Manu, D Day, S Maling, S Easterby (capt), J Edwards, D Lyons.

Replacements: I Thomas, K Owens, L Reed, V Cooper; G Cattle, D Jones, S Jones.