Rees and Jones in Scarlets side

The Scarlets coach Nigel Davies has named British & Irish Lions hooker Matthew Rees and out-half Stephen Jones in the side to play Leinster in the Magners League at The Rds on Friday night.

Davies said: “We can expect a huge challenge at the RDS. Leinster had a fabulous victory last weekend in the Heineken Cup semi-final against Munster.

“It was a smashing game of rugby and they were very impressive indeed. The have a strong forward platform this season which, perhaps, they’ve struggled with in years gone by and they can front up in that area.

“They’ve always had the quality backs who can damage teams. They have a lot of experience and they’ve benefited from a consistency of selection this season.”

THE SCARLETS (v Leinster): D Evans; M Jones, G Evans, J Davies, L Williams; S Jones (capt), M Roberts; I Thomas, M Rees, P John, V Cooper, D Day, J Turnbull, J Edwards, D Lyons.

Replacements: D Manu, K Owens, L Reed, R McCusker; G Cattle, R Priestland, R Higgitt.