Wales' Mathias set to return for Scarlets at Lions
United Rugby Championship: Lions v ScarletsVenue: Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg Date: Sunday, 11 May Kick-off: 14:00 BSTCoverage: Watch live on S4C and BBC iPlayer.
Wales prop Kemsley Mathias is set to return from injury off the bench when Scarlets face Lions in Johannesburg on Sunday in a crunch United Rugby Championship (URC) encounter.With two games remaining in a right race to reach the top eight play-offs, Scarlets boss Dwayne Peel has made one starting change.Marnus van der Merwe is back at hooker with Wales international Ryan Elias dropping to the bench.Mathias is back from a calf injury suffered against Stormers on 22 March.
Scarlets start the penultimate weekend of URC fixtures in seventh, with the top eight teams progressing to the play-offs, helped by an impressive win over runaway leaders Leinster last time out.Lions are currently 13th, having halted a run of four defeats by beating Connacht in round 16, and still also have a chance to squeeze into the play-offs.Former Cheetahs hooker Van der Merwe apart, Peel sticks to the team that toppled Leinster.A win would be a huge boost for Scarlets, who go on to face Sharks in Durban - a team already assured of a top-eight finish.
Scarlets head coach Dwayne Peel: "There's plenty of motivation obviously, we're in the play-off spots as it stands. The big thing for us is can we stay there or can we push up the league? That's probably where I'm thinking. "It's not about survival, it's about putting our own stamp on things. It's a massive challenge for us, obviously, the next two games but it's in our own destiny, so we'll approach it that way. "We talk about them [Lions] not having a great run but out there [in South Africa] it's a different story up in the altitude. They are a team who want to play expansive rugby and wants to throw the ball around and the challenge for us is we need to match that."
Lions: TBCReplacements:Scarlets: Blair Murray; Tom Rogers, Joe Roberts, Johnny Williams, Ellis Mee; Sam Costelow, Gareth Davies; Alec Hepburn, Marnus van der Merwe, Henry Thomas, Alex Craig, Sam Lousi, Vaea Fifita, Josh Macleod (capt), Taine Plumtree.Replacements: Ryan Elias, Kemsley Mathias, Sam Wainwright, Dan Davis, Jarrod Taylor, Archie Hughes, Ioan Lloyd, Macs Page.Referee: Andrew Brace (IRFU)Assistant referees: Griffin Colby (SARU), Stephan Geldenhuys (SARU)TMO: Eoghan Cross (IRFU)
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