Johnny Williams — the centre Wayne Pivac once described as ‘Hadleigh Parkes with a bit more X factor' — plays his first game since October when he features for the Scarlets against Connacht in Llanelli on Saturday (7.35pm).
And fellow midfield man Scott Williams also returns to action as captain for the date with the Irish side.
The pair resuming is good news for Dwayne Peel at a time when the head coach is without 19 players — 13 on the injury list and six away with Wales.
A starter for Wales against New Zealand in the autumn, Johnny Williams suffered a calf-muscle injury while the Scarlets were in South Africa in the autumn and hasn’t played since. The bump was the latest in a line of setbacks for the hard-running player who made such a strong start to his Test career in 2020, with Pivac among those impressed.
He will want to let Wales’ head coach know he is still around as quickly as possible.
So will Scott Williams.
Wales have been lacking a No. 12 who can distribute and play-make, with many believing the Scarlet could fill the role. He missed his region's game against Ulster last month after a slight niggle but is a player who could still have a future at international level, with his form for the Scarlets this season outstanding.
Peel makes three personnel changes from the side who faced Ulster, with Aaron Shingler returning in the back row ahead of Carwyn Tuipulotu, who drops to the bench.
Tom Rogers features on the right wing, having recovered from the frightening head knock he sustained at the Kingspan Stadium against Ulster.
The Scarlets head coachsaid: “Our next two home games (Connacht and Glasgow) are massive for us. Connacht have always been a team who play good rugby and are able to finish on edges, but if you look at their games this season, they have been physical, they can hold the gainline in attack and defence and come after teams.
“I thought we were unlucky not to come away with anything from Ulster in our last game. In terms of mentality and attitude it was good, but self-inflicted errors, particularly when receiving kick-offs, were costly. On the whole there is stuff to build on ahead of a big challenge, but one we are looking forward to.”
Scarlets : Ioan Nicholas; Tom Rogers, Johnny Williams, Scott Williams (capt), Ryan Conbeer; Dan Jones, Dane Blacker; Steff Thomas, Daf Hughes, Samson Lee, Sam Lousi, Morgan Jones, Aaron Shingler, Shaun Evans, Sione Kalamafoni.
Replacements: Marc Jones, Phil Price, Javan Sebastian, Jac Price, Carwyn Tuipulotu, Kieran Hardy, Rhys Patchell, Joe Roberts.
Connacht: Tiernan O’Halloran; Peter Sullivan, Sammy Arnold, Tom Daly, John Porch; Jack Carty (capt), Kieran Marmion; Jordan Duggan, Dave Heffernan, Tietie Tuimauga; Niall Murray, Leva Fifita; Cian Prendergast, Jarrad Butler, Paul Boyle.
Replacements: Shane Delahunt, Greg McGrath, Jack Aungier, Eoghan Masterson, Abraham Papali’i, Caolin Blade, Conor Fitzgerald, Tom Farrell.
