Cardiff v Scarlets team news as Ben Thomas gets new role and Wales fly-halves dropped

The Scarlets will be looking for revenge after being beaten by the Blue and Blacks in Llanelli two weeks ago

Ben Thomas will captain Cardiff this weekend against the Scarlets as both teams opt to drop their Welsh Test fly-halves to the bench for Saturday's clash at the Arms Park (3pm).

The home side have made four alterations from the high-scoring fixture with Glasgow last weekend, with Ellis Bevan and Tinus de Beer coming in at half-back, while Ed Byrne and Efan Daniel replace the injured Corey Domachowski and Liam Belcher in the front row.

Wales star Thomas will skipper the side in the absence of Belcher, while Wales man James Botham returns to the matchday squad after recovering from injury. Get the latest Welsh rugby breaking news by signing up to our free daily newsletter here.

The visitors, meanwhile, have made three changes to their starting XV, with Ioan Lloyd replacing Sam Costelow at fly-half, while in the pack Kemsley Mathias and Marnus van der Merwe get the nod in the front row.

The two sides lock horns for the second time in just a few weeks, with Cardiff having the opportunity to do the double over their west Wales rivals following their 15-24 win at Parc y Scarlets last month.

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Cardiff head coach Matt Sherratt said: “It promises to be a great occasion on Saturday afternoon with a packed Cardiff Arms Park and two teams that like to play attacking rugby.

“They will be hugely motivated and will bring a lot of physicality We've planned on them coming here and being at their absolute best and we’re excited for that challenge.

“We played some great attacking rugby last weekend and I was proud of the way the team fought back despite being down to 14 men, but this week we need an all round performance and are determined to give our fans something to be proud of.”

Scarlets chief Dwayne Peel added: “They are always competitive fixtures, us against Cardiff, like the one at Parc y Scarlets a couple of weeks ago. The Arms Park is a fast track and we always seem to have a great support there.

"All the west Walians living in Cardiff come out to support us. It is always a good atmosphere and a sea of red; hopefully it will be the same on Saturday and we can get a win for them. It is a good healthy rivalry, two teams who like to play rugby, it will be a good occasion.”

Cardiff Rugby: Cam Winnett; Mason Grady, Rey Lee-Lo, Ben Thomas (c), Harri Millard; Tinus de Beer, Ellis Bevan; Ed Byrne, Efan Daniel, Keiron Assiratti, Josh McNally, Teddy Williams, Ben Donnell, Alun Lawrence.

Replacements: Daf Hughes, Danny Southworth, Rhys Litterick, Mackenzie Martin, James Botham, Aled Davies, Callum Sheedy, Gabriel Hamer-Webb.

Scarlets: Ioan Nicholas; Tom Rogers, Johnny Williams, Eddie James, Blair Murray; Ioan Lloyd, Gareth Davies; Kemsley Mathias, Marnus van der Merwe, Henry Thomas, Sam Lousi, Max Douglas, Josh Macleod (c), Dan Davis, Taine Plumtree.

Replacements: Ryan Elias. Alec Hepburn, Sam Wainwright, Alex Craig, Carwyn Tuipulotu, Efan Jones, Sam Costelow, Macs Page.