WALES tour places in North America this summer are still at stake, says Newport Gwent Dragons lock Ian Gough, pictured, who intends making sure he gets one of the places.

Gough was brought back into the squad for the Six Nations Championship and played a part in the game against Italy when he went on as a replacement in Rome.

But the regular pairing was Brent Cockbain and Robert Sidoli and as they are not going on the British Lions tour to New Zealand they are sure to be in the Wales party, probably along with Gough and fellow Dragons lock Luke Charteris.

"The game on Friday will be another chance for a few of us to stick our hands up for the tour," admitted Gough. "Any good game increases our chances of going on the tour.

"The Scarlets are a good side, they're physical and you always see the sparks flying when we play, it'll be hotly contested and both sides want to win.

"Llanelli have got a great cup reputation, one of the best of any Welsh clubs or regions, they thrive on it. "But we are pretty evenly matched teams (the games have all gone with home advantage in the two years of regional rugby) and it's going to be full on and physical.

"This is a one-off, everyone will be focused and if we don't win then we're out of the cup and doing fitness training for the rest of the season.

"There's going to be no holding back and whoever wants it the most is going to take it."

Gough is disappointed the Celtic Cup will end its brief two-year reign this season.

"It's a shame we're losing it as it adds extra spice to the season, you've got to test it and try to improve it before you get rid of it," he said.

"But we've got to make the most of it, it would be nice to be involved in the last cup final as we were in the last Principality Cup final when we lost to Llanelli."

The Scarlets include British Lion Dwayne Peel and former Newport players Matthew Watkins and Andy Powell as well as Gough's adversary Chris Wyatt, who still lives in the city.

Scarlets team: B Davies, G Evans, M Watkins, T Selley, A Havili, C Thomas, D Peel, P John, M Rees, J Davies, A Jones, C Wyatt, S Easterby (captain), A Powell, G Thomas. Replacements: D Maddocks, A Gravelle, V Cooper, G Quinnell, M Phillips, A N Other, L Byrne.