Pro 14 Round 4: Scarlets vs Edinburgh

Richard Cockerill threatened to swing the axe after last week’s miserable home loss to Treviso, and he’s done the best job he could with a limited squad.

He knows that filling the team wholesale with peripheral players against the reigning league champions would be almost as suicidal as squirting water at James Haskell (but not as funny). But many of last week’s underperformers have been rewarded with bench spots and some, like Anton Bresler and Damien Hoyland, are gone altogether.

Up front it actually looks somewhere close to Edinburgh’s best starting pack based on the limited form of the season so far, although as usual there are question marks over 1 and 2. Benching Ross Ford tends to work quite well at International level as it seems to be a way to get a response out of him so let’s hope that works again. Jamie Ritchie was superb in the two games he has played and Bradbury is restored to 8. Hamish Watson could do with rediscovering some of last season’s form quickly up against a back row including Aaron Shingler and Scotland captain John Barclay.

In the backs, Tom Brown comes in on the wing and Damien Hoyland drops out altogether, although he’s maybe a little comforted by the fact that Cockers couldn’t keep hold of any of the three Sevens lads (all wingers) previously training with Edinburgh. Jason Harries continues on the other wing having impressed and puzzled in equal measure so far. He’s looked sharp and pacy except when clear on goal (as the other lot would say) and then he always seems to get caught. Get that man a Tim Visser highlights reel.

Robbie Fruean drops to the bench, poised to make a sizeable impact from there but the backline has – as has often been the case in recent seasons – a slightly one-dimensional feel to it. Blair Kinghorn remains the current provider-in-chief of X Factor although to be fair to Chris Dean he is profiting from the extra space that a close defensive watch on Kinghorn provides with 2 tries last weekend. Running the show will be Duncan Weir who has, as always, showed plenty of heart.

It all looks a bit scary against a Scarlets team making full use of their Lions contingent with Jonathan Davies, Leigh Halfpenny and Ken Owens alongside Barclay set to welcome Edinburgh on Saturday.

Edinburgh should not be defeatist in their outlook, but a win here would be a major upset and be a huge step towards righting some of last weekend’s wrongs.

Scarlets: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Johnny Mcnicholl, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Rhys Patchell, 9 Gareth Davies, 1 Rob Evans, 2 Ken Owens (capt), 3 Samson Lee, 4 Jake Ball, 5 Tadhg Beirne, 6 Aaron Shingler, 7 Will Boyde, 8 John Barclay.
Replacements: Ryan Elias, Wyn Jones, Werner Kruger, David Bulbring, Josh Macleod, Aled Davies, Rhys Jones, Paul Asquith

Edinburgh: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Tom Brown, 13 Chris Dean, 12 Phil Burleigh, 11 Jason Harries, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Nathan Fowles; 1 Michele Rizzo, 2 Stuart McInally, 3 WP Nel, 4 Ben Toolis, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 6 Jamie Ritchie, 7 Hamish Watson, 8 Magnus Bradbury (capt).

Replacements: 16 Ross Ford, 17 Darryl Marfo, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Fraser McKenzie, 20 John Hardie, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Jason Tovey, 23 Robbie Fruean

Referee: John Lacey (IRFU)