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Injury crises can derail any team, and Scarlets are no more immune than the next side.
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The Welsh region currently have 12 players unavailable – and what’s more, it’s the guts of a very decent starting XV. There was more bad news on Thursday when the club revealed star fullback Leigh Halfpenny will see a specialist as he is yet to recover from his latest concussive episode.
Such is the depth of crisis at the club, that Owens has been named at No. 8 as the Scarlets host the Dragons.
“He was training at the start of the week and still picking up the odd issue there in terms of headaches,” says under pressure headocoach Pivac. Speaking ahead of his side’s game with the Dragons this weekend, the future Wales coach was addament his side can still compete, should they be able to field their strongest side.
“Results are going all over the shop and we’re still one point off the play-offs. Other results have meant there’s everything to play for. We believe that by the end of the season if we can get our top side on the pitch then we’ll compete in this competition.
“We’ve got to accumulate enough points between now and then. This game against the Dragons on the weekend becomes vital in that quest. We believe we’ll turn it round and the boys are working very hard and haven’t lost sight of the end goal.”
The injured
James Davies- foot
Leigh Halfpenny- concussion
Will Boyde- ribs
Rhys Patchell – hamstring
Jake Ball – shoulder
Lewis Rawlins – shoulder
Steve Cummins – shoulder
Uzair Cassiem – shoulder
Blade Thomson – concussion
Josh Macleod – foot
Angus O’Brien – knee
Aaron Shingler – knee
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The Scarlets have been ravaged by injuries in their backrow with Welsh international duo James Davies (foot) and Aaron Shingler (knee) out, along with two of their big summer signings – recent Scotland call-up Blade Thomson (concussion) and South African Uzair Cassiem (shoulder). Will Boyde (ribs) and Josh Macleod (foot) are also out.
“We haven’t been too far off. We had 68% possession and 65% territory against the Blues so we did some good things. It’s more about the things that we can do to make sure we convert that pressure and time in the opposition’s 22 into points.
“The focus for us this week has been on our pass accuracy and the separation between our ball carriers and runners. There were some positives out there and we’re focusing on that and tightening up in other areas.
