Scarlets’ coach Wayne Pivac has warned his side that they must minimise the impact of the Guinness PRO12’s best player in Ulster’s Charles Piutau this weekend. The Kiwi coach worked alongside Piutau, who missed the last game with a thumb injury, at Auckland Blues and is fully aware of what his side will be coming up against at the Kingspan Stadium. Ulster have lost just once on their home turf since early January but that was a 21-20 defeat to the Scarlets something that Pivac admits will be a boost to his side. “I think Ulster will be up there because they have a very good coach in Les Kiss and the best player in the competition in Charles Piutau.” Pivac told the South Wales Evening Post. “He is a confident player, very strong with ball in hand, strong in the contact area, strong under the high ball, can step off either foot, has great acceleration and he can kick the ball a mile off his left foot so he brings quite a lot. “He is a complete player really. A player like that can also put a couple of thousand bums on seat. “Ulster are a very good side and we respect them, but we will take confidence out of the fact that we had a great performance there last year so we know that within this group of players it can be done.” In contrast to the Scarlets defeats to Munster and Edinburgh so far this season, Ulster have nine points from a possible ten after successes over Newport Gwent Dragons and Benetton Treviso. The last time the Ulstermen started a Guinness PRO12 campaign with three straight victories was in 2012/13, where they did not lose their first match until round 12. And Ulster assistant coach Allen Clarke is expecting a tough battle on Friday night as Scarlets go in search of their first victory of the season. “They will be a wounded animal, in their games so far this season, they’ve had lots of possession and opportunities,” he told the Irish News. “They can play with width, they’ve got the physicality up front and through the middle with their back unit. We’ve got to deal with their threats. “This is a game we lost last season, but a win this time could put us in a really positive position, mentally and in the table.” Ulster: Piutau, Gilroy, Olding, McCloskey, Ludik, Jackson, Pienaar, Black, Herring, Ah You, Browne, O’Connor, Ross, Reidy, Diack Replacements: Andrew, Warwick, Kane, Van der Merwe, Henderson, Lloyd, Marshall, Lyttle Scarlets: Thomas, L Williams, Jon Davies, Parkes, Evans, Patchell, G Davies, Jones, Owens, Kruger, Ball, Bulbring, Rawlins, James Davies, Barclay Replacements: Elias, Garrett, Edwards, Beirne, Boyde, A Davies, S Williams, Hughes Overall Guinness PRO12 head to head record: Played 27, Ulster won 14, Scarlets won 11 and 2 games drawn. At Kingspan Stadium, 7:05pm. Live on BBC Sport NI/BBC Wales Referee: Ben Whitehouse (WRU, 27th competition game) Assistant Referees: Cammy Rudkin (SRU), Shane Kierans (IRFU) Citing Commissioner: Eddie Walsh (IRFU) TMO: Charles Samson (SRU)
