28-03-2025
Wales' Murray and Morgan return for Scarlets-Ospreys derby
United Rugby Championship: Scarlets v OspreysVenue: Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli Date: Saturday, 29 March Kick-off: 15:00 GMTCoverage: Listen live on the BBC Sport Wales website.
Scarlets and Ospreys are both boosted by the return of Wales internationals for their United Rugby Championship (URC) west Wales derby on Blair Murray returns to the Scarlets side having missed last week's defeat to Stormers with a calf replaces Ioan Nicholas in the only change from the 29-17 loss at Parc y Wainwright has recovered from illness and is back among the welcome back captain Jac Morgan, who was rested for their thrilling 43-40 win over is one of eight changes to the starting Ospreys line-up, which sees George McGuigan lining up at hooker for his first start alongside Gareth Thomas and Ben Warren.
Tristan Davies replaces Morgan Morse in the back-row, while James Ratti and Adam Beard remain the second-row Kieran Hardy and Dan Edwards also retain their place in the starting line-ups, but there are changes on both wings; Luke Morgan and Ryan Conbeer replacing Daniel Kasende and Keelan Williams comes in at centre for Kieran Williams, while the final change sees Iestyn Hopkins get the nod at full-back in place of Jack five games remaining, just eight points separate Cardiff Rugby in fifth and Zebre in 15th, with the race to finish in the URC's top eight heating go into the weekend in seventh place on 33 points, while Scarlets are five points behind in 14th.
View from the camps
Scarlets head coach Dwayne Peel said: "It's going to be a great occasion. "You've got two sides that want to go out and play and two sides competing hard for the top eight. For west Wales rugby, that's fantastic."It's a big derby, a lot of tickets have been sold, the crowd looks big. The interest for the game is huge, which is great, and it's exciting to be part of it."Everyone was frustrated after the Stormers match, but there is no better fixture for us this week. "I am sure it will be a great crowd and a good occasion."Ospreys head coach Mark Jones said: "We're looking forward to the energy around this fixture. "We're expecting a great atmosphere and that will bring the best out of our players as well as the home team."Derby matches are one off games, they swing on small moments, so you can't look too deep into any games in the past or future. "We're fully focused on Saturday."
Team news
Scarlets: Blair Murray; Macs Page, Joe Roberts, Eddie James, Ellis Mee; Ioan Lloyd, Gareth Davies; Alec Hepburn, Marnus van der Merwe, Henry Thomas, Alex Craig, Sam Lousi, Vaea Fifita, Josh Macleod (capt), Taine PlumtreeReplacements: Ryan Elias, Sam O'Connor, Sam Wainwright, Jac Price, Jarrod Taylor, Efan Jones, Ioan Nicholas, Dan DavisOspreys: Iestyn Hopkins; Luke Morgan, Evardi Boshoff, Owen Williams, Ryan Conbeer; Dan Edwads, Kieran Hardy; Gareth Thomas, George McGuigan, Ben Warren, James Ratti, Adam Beard, Tristan Davies, Jac Morgan (capt), Morgan MorrisReplacements: Dewi Lake, Steffan Thomas, Tom Botha, Rhys Davies, Morgan Morse, Luke Davies, Phil Cokanasiga, Max Nagy
