SCARLETS head coach Nigel Davies has thrown down the gauntlet to emerging locks Lou Reed and Dominic Day to "raise their game" ahead of the Magners League kick-off a week on Saturday.

Reed was one of the players to catch Davies's eye during last weekend's 43-14 hammering of Worcester at Parc y Scarlets, delivering a dynamic all-round display in attack and defence.

Second row is an area where the Scarlets have struggled for depth in recent years, and it is clear that both Reed and his boilerhouse partner Day have been told they need to make a mark this term.

"I thought two seasons ago they did well, but last season wasn't good enough from either of them and they have both got to raise their game," said Davies.

"They have risen to that challenge so far in pre-season. They are not developing players, they are not youngsters any more, they are players who have matured in our environment and they need to stand up and be counted and they know that."

Both players were capped at age-grade level with Reed a member of the Wales Under-19s Grand Slam-winning side alongside captain Bradley Davies four years ago.

But while Davies has gone on to cement himself as a member of Warren Gatland's national team, 22-year-old Reed is still struggling to take that next step in his senior development.

Both he and Day, 25, failed to kick-on during last season's disappointing Magners campaign, with new arrival Damian Welch pushing through to claim one of the second-row berths in the second-half of the season.

The dynamic Welch, now in his second year with the Scarlets, will be challenging strongly again for the league opener out in Treviso on September 4, while new arrivals Jonny Fa'amatuainu and Gavin Quinnell as well as veteran Wales international Vernon Cooper are other options available to Davies.

Former skipper Cooper is now in his 14th season at Llanelli and will be given a testimonial match on Friday when the Scarlets complete their pre-season matches against Aviva Premiership new-boys Exeter Chiefs at Parc y Scarlets (7pm).

Ken Owens, Rob McCusker, Jonathan Davies and Tavis Knoyle — who toured New Zealand with Wales in the summer — are set to return for that match, while Fa'amatuainu, who sat out the win over the Warriors because of a delay with his work visa, will finally get his chance to pull on the jersey.

The experienced trio of Sean Lamont, Stephen Jones and new captain Matthew Rees won't feature until the start of the league campaign.

Robert Lloyd