Clermont v Scarlets: Teams

South Africa's World Cup-winning skipper John Smit should make his Clermont Auvergne debut on Saturday, although he has only been named on the replacements' bench.

The 29-year-old will have to wait his turn with Argentina's Mario Ledesma given the nod to start at hooker.

Fellow Springbok Butch James does start at fly-half jersey and marshals a backline that includes World Cup stars Aurelien Rougerie, Gonzalo Canale and Seremaia Bai.

Ledesma links up with compatriot Martin Scelzo in a pack that also features the likes of Julien Bonnaire and Elvis Vermeulen.

Llanelli Scarlets captain Simon Easterby has been ruled out of the trip to Stade Marcel Michelin with an arm injury.

Wales winger Mark Jones will not be risked because a knock to his knee, so Matthew Watkins comes into the team.

Morgan Stoddart takes over from Daniel Evans at full-back, with World Cup fly-half Stephen Jones replacing Rhys Priestland.

Scrum-half Dwayne Peel will captain the team, with Deacon Manu replacing Bruce Douglas in the front row and Gavin Thomas taking up Easterby's position of flanker.

Consideration

Llanelli director of rugby Phil Davies said: "Our selection for the match against Clermont Auvergne has been made with the bigger picture in mind.

"We have a lot of important games between now and Christmas. Both injuries aren't serious but we didn't want to run the risk of playing Easterby or Jones and them getting a bang which would have put them out for a further two or three weeks.

"Hopefully the injuries would have cleared up within 7 to 10 days."

Clermont Auvergne: 15 Anthony Floch, 14 Aurélien Rougerie (c), 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Seremaïa Bai, 11 Julien Malzieu, 10 Butch James, 9 Pierre Mignoni, 8 Elvis Vermeulen, 7 Alexandre Audebert, 6 Julien Bonnaire, 5 Thibaut Privat, 4 Loic Jacquet, 3 Martín Scelzo, 2 Mario Ledesma, 1 Laurent Emmanuelli
Replacements: 16 John Smit, 17 Thomas Domingo, 18 Christophe Samson, 19 Emmanuel Etien, 20 Arnaud Pic, 21 Pierre-Manuel Garcia, 22 Vilimoni Delasau.

Scarlets: 15 Morgan Stoddart, 14 Dafydd James, 13 Regan King, 12 Gavin Evans, 11 Matthew Watkins, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Dwayne Peel (c), 8 Alix Popham, 7 Gavin Thomas, 6 James Bater, 5 Scot MacLeod, 4 Vernon Cooper, 3 Deacon Manu, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Iestyn Thomas.

Replacements: 16 James Hayter, 17 Bruce Douglas, 18 Adam Eustace, 19 Dafydd Jones, 20 Gavin Cattle, 21 Rhys Priestland, 22 Garan Evans.