Friends reunited as Pivac returns to face Scarlets

Former Scarlets head coach Wayne Pivac will be reunited with old friends when he brings his Benetton side to Llanelli on Saturday (17:30 BST).

Pivac was Scarlets head coach between 2014 and 2019 before replacing Wales boss Warren Gatland.

His most notable achievement in Llanelli was guiding them to the Pro12 title in 2017, while Scarlets also reached the final and Champions Cup semi-final the following year.

For the first time since his departure, Pivac returns competitively this weekend for the United Rugby Championship (URC) match.

"I did cast my eye down the fixture list and to see the Scarlets was our first away match was pretty exciting," said Pivac.

"It's good to get the game early and something to look forward to.

"There's also the opportunity to catch up with friends, both from the work point of view but also friends we made outside of rugby."

Pivac has fond memories of his five-year stint in Llanelli.

"Winning the championship with that final success against Munster capped just such a memorable season," said Pivac.

"If I remember rightly, we lost the first three games and then went on a winning run.

"On that day in Dublin, I recall the smiling faces on the people in the crowd after winning that final and the emotions it attracted.

"These are some fantastic rugby memories, but I also loved living down in Llanelli and experiencing just the whole west Wales environment."

Scarlets were the last Welsh winners of a league title.

"A lot of things have to align and come together over a period of time to win trophies," said Pivac.

"There were a lot of good people doing a lot of good work and Nigel Short (former chair) was the guy heading that.

"It's been a little bit sad to see the results of late, but it's not through want of hard work and trying.

"Not every season is a successful season, but I know the [Scarlets] boys would have been working hard to turn things around.”

After leaving Scarlets, Pivac had a three-year spell with Wales.

He won the 2021 Six Nations and became the first coach to guide the men's national side to a victory against the Springboks in South Africa during the summer of 2022.

But two home defeats against Italy and Georgia in 2022, and an overall record of 13 wins in 34 games, resulted in Pivac being replaced by the returning Gatland in December 2022.

A stint in Japan followed for Pivac before he returned home to New Zealand and thought his coaching career might have been over.

But the Benetton opportunity arose and the well-travelled Kiwi has found himself back in the northern hemisphere in Italy where he has brought in former Wales fly-half Rhys Patchell as his attack coach.

Patchell was the fly-half who helped Scarlets win the title, so he will also have his own reunion.

"As a player, Rhys was very diligent and he's no different as a coach," said Pivac.

"He's putting a lot of hours in and, if anything, I've got to get him to pull back a bit.

"It's a long season and we've got to make sure batteries are fully charged at the end as they at the start."

Both sides need a victory, with Scarlets lying 15th in the table having lost their opening two games against Cardiff and Dragons, while Benetton only managed a draw with Dragons before losing to Connacht in their home matches.

"There's a rugby game to be played and both teams will be wanting to do well," said Pivac.

"It's not at that desperate sort of stage because it's only round three, but you want to get your first win under your belt.

"We felt we have been unlucky in the last two games, but if we're going to get our first win this weekend, a lot of things have to be done well over an 80-minute period."

Scarlets director of rugby Nigel Davies knows this could prove a significant Saturday for both sides.

"They will be hurting as well because they've had two home games and not got the results they would want," said Davies.

"Wayne's probably going to want to get one over on his old team and that's the level of competition we love."

Benetton have their Italian internationals available this weekend but will not be at full strength with five of the Azzurri players injured.

Scarlets number eight Fletcher Anderson has recovered from a groin injury and is set to make his first appearance of the season from the replacements bench.

Wales centre Joe Hawkins will partner Eddie James in the Scarlets midfield, while lock Will Evans and prop Henry Thomas returns.

Sam Lousi switches from lock to blind-side flanker with Dan Davis and Tristan Davies missing.

Scarlets: Murray; Mee, James, Hawkins, Page; Costelow, Blacker; Mathias, Elias, Henry Thomas, Groves, Evans, Lousi, Macleod (capt), O Williams.

Replacements: McKee, S O'Connor, H O'Connor, Cuckson, Anderson, G Davies, J Roberts, J Williams.

Benetton: Gallagher; Lynagh, Mey, Marin, Ratave; Umaga, Garbisi; Spagnolo, Maile, Zilocchi, Cannone, Midena, Marini, Ruzza, Lamaro.

Replacements: Bernasconi, Medrano, Ferrari, Fa'aso'o, Kingi, Werchon, Smith, Zanandrea.

Referee: Peter Martin (Ireland)

Assistant referees: Ben Connor (Wales), Marcus Caudle (Wales)

TMO: Leo Colgan (Ireland).