By Adam Cleary
Carmarthen Quins hope to offer a glimpse of the future when they host rivals Llanelli in the first West Wales showdown of the new Indigo Premiership.
Both clubs are feeders within the Scarlets region and regulars at Parc y Scarlets have had plenty of reasons to be grateful to the Quins’ production line in recent years.
Wales scrum-half Kieran Hardy, hooker Ryan Elias and Scotland squad prop Javian Sebastian are just a few of the former Quins players to have hit the heights in the last couple of seasons and on Thursday night there could be evidence of more to follow.
Quins are set to include Scarlets academy prospects Caleb Salmon, Lewis Morgan and Eddie James when they go head-to-head with their neighbours in a clash that is live online on S4C Clic as well as the channel’s YouTube and Facebook pages.
“We’ve got a good mix in the squad and that was something we were keen to address in the summer, making sure we’ve got the experience there,” says Quins team manager Steff Thomas.
“We’ve got some good youngsters coming through like Josh Davies, our young centre from Whitland who featured in eight of the 10 match-day squads for the Premiership Cup and that’s been great seeing him come through.
“We’ve also got some exciting Scarlets academy prospects – Caleb Salmon in the back row, Lewis Morgan at hooker, and Eddie James.
“Eddie James is a big No.12 who has come all the way through our minis and juniors system and has gone on to play for Wales U20s.
“With regards to the older heads, we’ve got Nic Reynolds who’s been excellent for us, Edward Siggery, and Haydn Pugh, so there’s a healthy blend of youth and experience.”
This will be the second of the new Thursday night live slots for the Indigo Prem, following on from the opening Aberavon victory over Swansea.
That first derby set a high bar with some fantastic tries, including one for Wizards youngster Rhodri Lewis that has already become a huge social media hit, earning him comparisons with Shane Williams.
While the Wizards were stealing the show, Carmarthen Quins lost their tough-looking opener in the first round of games when they went down 31-24 at Pontypridd, despite outscoring the home side by three tries to one.
Thomas admits: “Our form could probably be best described as patchy. We’ve won six out of 10 and I’d probably take that as a fair reflection of where we were.
“We’ve had an honesty session and a good debrief of the Cup, we are looking to make improvements and kick on for the League campaign which will be somewhat tougher.
TEAM NEWS 📢
Here’s your Llanelli team to take on @CarmQuinsRFC in Thursday nights @IndigoGroupPrem clash! 🔢
Tomorrow’s match will be broadcasted live on the @S4C website! 📺 pic.twitter.com/E88gLNdG0i
— Llanelli RFC (@LlanelliRFC) December 15, 2021
“On the whole, we were a little bit disappointed with the Cup but there’s plenty of positive signs for us to kick on.”
Both the west Wales clubs will be looking for their first win of the league season, but for Llanelli this will be their opening match.
The club were due to welcome Cardiff to Parc y Scarlets last weekend, but the Arms Park club were busy lending their players, and their support, to their regional big brothers in order that Cardiff Rugby could fulfil their Heineken Champions Cup fixture against Toulouse.
The postponement means the trip west to the Quins will be Llanelli’s first game of the new Premiership campaign and an early chance to avenge their 26-15 defeat at Carmarthen Park three weeks ago in the Premiership Cup.
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Llanelli also have their own promising rookies eager to impress as they make their way through the Scarlets academy – such as scrum-half Archie Hughes, his half-back partner Josh Phillips, and back rower Luca Giannini.
“You can’t beat a derby game,” adds Thomas.
“The games with Llanelli and Llandovery are always special fixtures, we’ve got a few boys who have affiliations to Llanelli and I’m sure there’s a few Llanelli boys who have played for Carmarthen, so there’s always a bit of added spice.
I’m going to promote this again, purely because it’s this wider coverage package package the league needed and deserved to show off its product. https://t.co/xqb1ELg8qK
— Robert Rees (@Rreesrugby) December 15, 2021
“At the end of the day, though, when it comes to game time we have to try and remove that element otherwise it sort of becomes unhealthy.
“We just need to focus on our game and hopefully enjoy the win if we do the business on the park.”
Both clubs will enjoy their first game in front of the TV cameras and if their presence inspires like it did at the Talbot Athletic Gound last week, then Indigo Prem aficionados – as well as those who just enjoy positive, try-scoring rugby – should be in for a treat.
“It’s great to have some good exposure for the Premiership,” says Thomas.
“The lads will definitely react and I’m hoping it will squeeze out another five per cent from the boys due to the added pressure of the game being broadcast live.
“Everybody reacts to pressure differently, but I’m hoping it will bring out the best of the boys on Thursday.”
S4C Clic: Thursday, 7.30pm – Indigo Prem
Carmarthen Quins v Llanelli
You can watch matches live on the S4C Clic player on any smart device or computer, by going to www.s4c.cymru/clic, or by downloading the S4C Clic App; from App Store on an Apple device, or Google Play on an Android device. If you have a Smart TV or Smart TV Device (such as Amazon Fire TV Stick), you can watch the game via the S4C YouTube channel.
The games will also be shown on the S4C Chwaraeon Facebook page, at www.facebook.com/s4cchwaraeon, the WRU Facebook page, www.facebook.com/welshrugbyunion, or on S4C’s YouTube channel, at www.youtube.com/s4c.
English commentary available.