Llanelli kick-off their Indigo Group Premiership campaign with a thrilling West Wales encounter against fellow Scarlets Carmarthen Quins, under the bright lights of Carmarthen Park, on Thursday 16th December.

With last weekend’s opening round against Cardiff RFC postponed due to player call-ups to Cardiff Rugby’s squad for their Heineken Champions Cup clash, having been hit by Covid-19 related travel disruptions and isolation, Llanelli are now raring to go and get the new Premiership season underway.

Thursday’s game, a West Wales derby likely to be packed full of on-field match-ups, will also be broadcast live on S4C Chwaraeon Facebook, S4C YouTube and S4C Clic. Commentary will be available in both Welsh and English.

Despite a disappointing run in the Indigo Group Premiership Cup head coach Paul Fisher is excited by the prospect of the new Premiership season getting underway having seen some quality develop through the ranks in the opening months of the season.

Reflecting on the Cup campaign Fisher said; “We used the first block of the season as an opportunity to field some of the younger members of the squad, including some of the exciting talent developing within the academy.

“I believe that we were competitive in five of the ten fixtures but weren’t quite experienced enough as a side on the day to get the result over the line.

“The experiences the boys have had will have helped them and the development of their game, in addition to making us a more experienced side as we head into the Premiership season.”

Llanelli team to take on Carmarthen Quins, at Carmarthen Park, Thursday 16th December kick-off 19:30;

15 Llew Smith, 14 Amir Jiwa-Walji, 13 Jonathan Lewis, 12 Iwan Evans, 11 Liam Hutchings, 10 Ioan Hughes, 1 Rhys Davies, 2 Llew Phillips-Taylor, 3 Ryan Thomas, 4 Christian Long, 5 Ashleigh Hyndman, 6 Ryan Jenkins, 7 Jacob Lewis, 8 Nathan Hart (c)

Replacements; 16 Morgan MacRae, 17 Thomas Zoogah, 18 Richard Bassett, 19 Sam Martin, 20 Caine Rees-Jones, 21 Jay Weaver, 22 Tomos Davies, 23 Harrison Button