Six Nations hopefuls Wales face off under Gatland

The West Wales derby between Ospreys and Scarlets (Sunday: 3pm) pits two Six Nations contenders against each other.

Morgan Morris will captain the Ospreys in the absence of the injured Justin Tipuric, while the eight will play Carwin Tuipulota, an emerging young star who is considered to be of interest to Warren Gatland. You can read more about him here.

Gatland is likely to be in the Swansea stands on Sunday, with their Six Nations squad being named in January. Both players will be hoping to impress the Wales manager with first-choice Taulupe Faletau injured after breaking his hand at the Rugby World Cup. Until now, Morris has been overlooked despite his excellent regional form.

Wales captain Jack Morgan made his first league start of the season as a replacement for Tipuric, while Rhys Davies moved from second row to full-back.

The visitors are captained by scrum-half Gareth Davies, with Welshman Kieran Hardy on the bench.

The Ospreys have received a timely boost with the return of inside center Keiran Williams ahead of the West Wales derby, along with midfield partner Owen Watkin following George North’s injury.

In front of the home team, the front row remains unchanged since the defeat to the Dragons last time out, while James Fender partners Adam Bird in the second row. Welsh international Gareth Thomas returns to the bench for his first game of the season.

Davy Lake will face Welsh teammate Ryan Elias, who will be joined by Vin Jones and Harry O’Connor in the Scarlets front row.

After Jonny Williams’ yellow card and try in Dublin last week, he remains at center alongside the returning Joe Roberts. Tongan international Vaea Fifita starts at 6, with Teddy Leatherbarrow in the back row.

Ospreys manager Toby Booth reiterated the importance of the West Wales derby, saying: “Everyone knows the West Wales derby is an important game, the boys look at it as soon as the schedule is released. We’ve been playing well lately and we know how important that is for our fans. It often comes down to how players keep their heads and composure in the pressure cooker.

“We are aware of the threats they pose and hope to create some of our own.”

Dwayne Peel says the Scarlets must be on top form to beat Swansea: “Derbies are different emotions, different styles of play. There’s a lot at stake… we have no illusions, to get there and win we have to be very good.”

Ospreys: Max Nagy 14. Daniel Kasende 13. Owen Watkin 12. Keiran Williams 11. Luke Morgan 10. Jack Walsh 9. Reuben Morgan-Williams, 1. Nicky Smith 2. Davy Lake 3. Tom Botha 4. James Fender 5. Adam Bird 6 Rhys Davies 7. Jack Morgan 8. Morgan Morris (c)

Subs: Sam Perry 17. Gareth Thomas 18. Rhys Henry 19. Harry Deaves 20. Tristan Davies 21. Revan Kruger 22. Dan Edwards 23. Luke Scully

Scarlets: Jonny McNicol 14. Tom Rogers 13. Joe Roberts 12. Jonny Williams 11. Steff Evans 10. Ioan Lloyd 9. Gareth Davies 1. Vin Jones 2. Ryan Elias 3. Harry O’Connor 4. Alex Craig 5. Jack Price 6. Waea Fifita 7. Teddy Leatherbarrow 8. Carwin Tuipulotu

To wash: Sean Evans 17. Steff Thomas 18. Joe Jones 19. Morgan Jones 20. Ben Williams 21. Kieran Hardy 22. Charlie Titcombe 23. Ioan Nicholas