Head coach Simon Easterby has called for a united effort as the Scarlets bid to arrest a slide of five-straight defeats in all competitions in their RaboDirect PRO12 Welsh derby against Ospreys.

Scarlets haven’t won since defeatingConnacht 24-21 in the RaboDirect PRO12 on November 23 while they have lost ten of their last 11 encounters with Ospreys since 2007.

That was a 22-14 victory at Parc y Scarlets on Boxing Day 2011 andEasterby has made four changes to the team that lost 10-6 to the Ospreys last time out on December 26.

Gareth Owen, Rhodri Williams, Emyr Phillips and Josh Turnbull replace Liam Williams, Gareth Davies, Ken Owens and Aaron Shingler in the starting XV and Easterby wants a response.

“The players have responded well in training this week after the disappointment of Boxing Day, and it’s good to have the Welsh derbies back-to-back for many reasons,” he said.

“It’s good in terms of preparation to play the same team again and it gives our players an edge and leaves a taste in the mouth with the desire to put right the previous performance.
“And for our supporters there’s something to get behind as well in terms of giving the players a lift, particularly as it’s against our nearest rivals.

“The support over the festive period has been brilliant and we should applaud our supporters for really showing their loyalty to regional rugby by backing us in big numbers at our games.”

Ospreys have also made four changes to their starting XV with Aisea Natoga, Aaron Jarvis, Ian Evans and Justin Tipuric in and Hanno Dirksen, Adam Jones, James King and Ryan Jones out.

They are currently on a three-match winning streak in all competitions and have not lost at home to a fellow Welsh region in the RaboDirect PRO12 since October 2010.

They were defeated in their last RaboDirect PRO12 fixture at the Liberty Stadium, 28-16 to Glasgowthough, and head coach Steve Tandy wants to see improvements from Boxing Day.

“While we got the win at Parc y Scarlets last week, in many ways it was a frustrating afternoon,” Tandysaid. “The spirit, effort and commitment from the team was faultless, but we made too many basic errors, coughed up possession cheaply and that meant we found ourselves under pressure.
“The message this week is about raising that performance level so that it meets the standard we expect as Ospreys.

“We’ve got some big games over the next few weeks, with the Heineken Cup looming after Scarlets on Friday, and we know that we need to be performing at our very best if we are going to achieve what we want in these games.”

At Liberty Stadium, 7.15pm. Live on S4C
Referee: Nigel Owens (WRU, 102nd competition game)
Assistant Referees: Ian Davies, Jon Mason (both WRU)
Citing Commissioner: Ray Wilton (WRU)
TMO: Derek Bevan (WRU)