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Bristol loanee Dan Thomas immediately selected for Scarlets
By Ian Cameron
Bristol Bears have loaned Dan Thomas on a two-game loan to Welsh URC side Scarlets, who are suffering a fresh injury crisis.
Scarlets currently have 18 players unavailable for selection for various reasons. All Blacks and soon-to-be Tonga back row Vaea Fifita is serving a ban while fellow looseforwards Blade Thomson, Aaron Shingler, Carwyn Tuipulotu, Tomás Lezana and Dan Davis are all out injured.
Thomas, a former Wales U20 flanker, joins on a two-match loan deal and is named on the openside as the Scarlets prepare to take on Connacht at The Sportsground on Friday evening. “Scarlets are without a few back-row players and now that we are without a game this weekend, this is a great opportunity for Dan to get some additional game time against two strong opponents," said Bristol director of rugby, Pat Lam.
Scarlets head coach Dwayne Peel said: “It is a big challenge ahead. With Connacht, the last two weeks have shown us that they have come out of the blocks hard against Munster and Leinster.
"It is going to be a big physical challenge for us. We need to plan for that and make sure when we get opportunities we take them. The fundamentals of the game when you go there are so important, the ability to field kicks, your ability to cover back field, kick well and physicality, that is the challenge. If we can get on top of the fundamentals we give ourselves a chance.”
SCARLETS TEAM:
15 Leigh Halfpenny; 14 Johnny McNicholl, 13 Steff Evans, 12 Jonathan Davies (capt), 11 Ryan Conbeer; 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Kieran Hardy; 1 Steff Thomas, 2 Ken Owens, 3 Harri O’Connor 4 Jac Price, 5 Tom Price, 6 Josh Macleod, 7 Dan Thomas, 8 Sione Kalamafoni.
REPLACEMENTS: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Kemsley Mathias, 18 WillGriff John, 19 Morgan Jones, 20 Iwan Shenton, 21 Dane Blacker, 22 Rhys Patchell, 23 Corey Baldwin.
UNAVAILABLE: Sam Lousi, Vaea Fifita, Wyn Jones, Scott Williams, Blade Thomson, Johnny Williams, Ioan Nicholas, Tomás Lezana, Tom Rogers, Aaron Shingler, Dan Davis, Phil Price, Lewis Rawlins, Joe Roberts, Carwyn Tuipulotu, Callum Williams, Samson Lee, Griff Evans.
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It might be legal but he’s sailing pretty close to the wind. Not a lot needs to go wrong for Finau to end up in the bin. Was it late? Not quite, but borderline. High? A couple of CM within the laws, no room for error with that one. Did he wrap the arms? There was a token effort to wrap one arm, the intent was clearly to hit with the shoulder. So yeah, it’s legal, just. But as we all know, a very slight change in the dynamics could easily have him seeing red. Hopefully not when it really matters.
Go to commentsYou forget this is Rassie Erasmus who is still holding the Springbok keys. Even with Felix Jones orchestrating a really tight RWC SF last year. It still wasn't enough to get England past their particular Springbok Monkey in world cups. The reason is FJ was going off of what they did in 2019 not necessarily adapting to current Springboks. So yes, Australia can get passed England because let's be honest, England have a one track strategy, Springboks do not. Even with rush defense I wouldn't be surprised if Rassie continually tweaks it. Also bear in mind Rassie is happy to sacrifice a few mid year and inter World Cup matches to pin point how opposition plays and how to again tweak strategies to get his Springboks in peak performance for the next World Cup. As much as most teams like to win games in front of them and try to win everything, Rassie always makes sure to learn and train for the greatest showdown International Rugby has to offer. Tbh, most people remember World Cup wins and ignore intermediate losses as a result but will remember also WC losses, Ireland, even if they won games in the interim. So even if games are won against the Springboks, it's likely Rassie is just getting a feel for how opposition is moving and adapt accordingly…in time. For Rassie, a loss is never a loss because he uses it as a chance to learn and improve. Sometimes during a game, again like the England match in last year's Semi Final.
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