Injury-hit Scarlets throw new faces to the Lions

Alex Groves was capped by England Under-20s

United Rugby Championship: Lions v Scarlets

Venue: Ellis Park, Johannesburg Date: Saturday, 18 October Kick-off: 12:45 BST

Injury-hit Scarlets have been forced to name two locks to start together for the first time against Lions on Saturday.

Dwayne Peel is without six players to cover the position for the United Rugby Championship fixture at Ellis Park.

Desperate times have called for desperate measures after drafting this week's loan signings Harvey Cuckson and Alex Groves straight into the starting team after barely two days of training with the rest of the squad.

Remarkably, Stormers forward Cuckson only met up with Scarlets when they arrived in Johannesburg on Wednesday.

"We've been trying to get them both up to speed as quickly as possible before even getting on the training field," said Peel.

"It's about how much clarity and confidence we can give them in a very short period without overloading them. The other players have also done a great job taking them under their wings.

"They are good players so while we have systems of play, we have to give them the confidence to play their own game and enjoy it.

"The situation is what it is, but they see this as an opportunity."

Scarlets are without first-choice second row Jake Ball and Sam Lousi, as well as Max Douglas, Jac Price and Will Evans while loan-signing Steve Cummins returned to Dragons.

"A coaching friend of mine once spoke about the rugby gods sometimes working against you," lamented Peel.

"When you have an injury in a certain area then you suddenly seem peppered with them.

"It's very tough on the boys who are fit but they are working hard and we'll get through it."

Scarlets are without a win this season after two defeats, which included failing to score a point in a league game for the first time in 18 years, against Stormers last week.

Peel said: "We're clearly very disappointed with the result, especially not scoring. But we've lost two games so far from a season of 21 games, so there is a lot of rugby to come."

The locks are among seven changes for Scarlets as Ioan Nicholas, Macs Page, Sam Costelow, Archie Hughes and Archer Holz all start.

Lions are playing their first home game of the season following away losses at Cardiff, Zebre and Benetton.

Springbok Morne van den Berg is injured so Nico Steyn starts at half-back while wing Eduan Keyter and lock Darrien Landsberg also return.

Lions: Q Horn; Keyter, Van Wyk, Kriel, Davids; Smith, Steyn; Kotze, Marais, Ntlabakanye, Oosthuizen, Landsberg, Pretorius, Venter, F Horn (capt).

Replacements: Brandon, Schoeman, Van Vuuren, Nothnagel, Cairns, L Horn, Dobela, Mpeku

Scarlets: Nicholas; Mee, Page, Williams (capt), Murray; Costelow, Hughes; Hepburn, Van der Merwe, Holz, Cuckson, Groves, Taylor, Davis, Plumtree.

Replacements: Myhill, O'Connor, Thomas, Gemine, Williams, Blacker, Hawkins, Roberts.

Referee: Eoghan Cross (IRFU)

Assistant Referees: Griffin Colby & AJ Jacobs (SARU)

TMO: Sam Grove-White (SRU)