After Leinster did the double on the Scarlets in the Heineken Cup in December, Nigel Davies’ side will be looking to put the record straight out in Dublin and gain some valuable Magners League points in their bid to climb the table and secure a place in Europe next season. The Scarlets beat the European Champions 18 v 16 in the opening Magners League game of the season back in early September at Parc y Scarlets.

Scrum half Martin Roberts starts with the exciting centre partnership of Jonathan Davies and Regan King reunited for the first time in a year. King starts in his second game for the region after returning from a long-term hamstring injury.

And Scarlets Head Coach Nigel Davies has given impressive young Llanelli back Dan Newton his first opportunity to start for the region. Newton, 20, gets his place at full-back after showing success with the boot in recent games in the Premiership with Llanelli RFC. Daniel Evans moves from full-back to the wing.

Experienced Australian international David Lyons captains the side for the away fixture, with 50 games for the region now under his belt and 30 points to his name in his second season with the Scarlets.

The Scarlets captain said: “We were very disappointed with the Heineken Cup results against Leinster, the rest of it our form hasn’t been anywhere like that this season. As a side they exploit weaknesses better than most clubs in Europe and we have to improve on those performances in December and fix some of the deficiencies which they highlighted.

“We have firmed up a bit since then, particularly in the club competitions which have helped us by winning some close games that hopefully we can carry through. Saturday will be a big test to see if we have improved and how far we have come.”

Lyons said that some of the Scarlets young back row talent had impressed in recent weeks. “Players like Josh and Rob have gone well and they’ve added to enthusiasm to the back row, they are still quite raw but have big potential - they will continue to improve like most of our team will do.

“We have a great bunch of players, some really promising players, yes it’s a young side and we have to build that consistency and make sure we don’t fall away if we are playing badly or losing and believe we can come back and get a result.”

Scarlets Head Coach Nigel Davies said: “Leinster are a strong squad and have depth, even without a number of their internationals - and that’s what you need to be successful as a team. It will be a challenge for us but we’ll look forward to a good game out there, we’ve been going pretty well in the past month.

“If you look at our season so far considering where we have come from, we can been reasonably happy with what we achieved, as runners-up in our group in the Heineken Cup and joint top of the LV=Cup pool. We now need to concentrate on results in the Magners League.

“We’ve come close a number of times in our Magners games; we’ve played reasonably well against some good teams but have just come up short - shown by the number of losing bonus points we’ve secured (5).

“We’ve now got to turn those performances into results and get some points in our next three or four games.”

On selection, Davies said Scarlets supporters could look forward to the midfield partnership between Jon Davies and Regan King emerging back on the field at the weekend. “That’s something to be excited about, it should be quite intriguing to see.

“Dan Evans is comfortable on the wing, he has all the skills and pace needed and will slot in there nicely. Dan Newton has been playing well in the Premiership and deserves a chance. He came on in Connacht earlier in the season and made an impact and got us an important bonus point in that game. He hasn’t had many opportunities yet but we think he will do a good job for us.

“It’s a big game for Ken Owens as well, he’s being playing very well all year and if he maintains his consistency and puts in another strong performance at the weekend against a quality Leinster pack, he will be pushing hard for selection for Wales against France next week.”

The Scarlets squad is without wingers Morgan Stoddart (groin injury – six weeks) and Lee Williams who has a fractured eye socket and will be out for four weeks and centre Rob Higgitt (bicep tear). Other Scarlets on the long-term injury list include senior internationals Simon Easterby, Dafydd Jones (expected to return in March) and captain Mark Jones.

Scarlets selection v Leinster; Magners League 20th February 2010 (KO 1830) at Royal Dublin Society.

15 Dan Newton, 14 Daniel Evans, 13 Regan King, 12 Jon Davies 11 Andy Fenby, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Martin Roberts, 1 Iestyn Thomas, 2 Ken Owens, 3 Deacon Manu, 4 Dominic Day, 5 Damian Welch, 6 Rob McCusker, 7 Johnathan Edwards 8 David Lyons (capt).

Replacements: 16 Phil John, 17 Emyr Phillips, 18 Rhys Thomas, 19 Vernon Cooper, 20 Josh Turnbull, 21 Tavis Knoyle, 22 Gareth Maule