Scarlets centre Jonathan Davies returns to action this weekend after suffering a hamstring strain and will lead his side against Isuzu Southern Kings at Parc y Scarlets, Saturday 29 September, kick-off 18:30.

Saturday’s clash will be Davies’ first outing in this season’s Guinness PRO14 having pulled out of the pre-match warm-up against Leinster in round 2.

The British and Irish Lion centre will lead the side with club captain Ken Owens amongst a group of internationals rested this weekend.

A new-look all-international front row will get a first start this season in Wyn Jones, Ryan Elias and Werner Kruger as head coach Wayne Pivac rotates the squad.

Jake Ball and David Bulbring combine in the second row with Dan Davis coming in to the openside flank alongside Ed Kennedy and Blade Thomson in the back row.

Scrum half Sam Hidalgo-Clyne gets his second start of the season as he comes in to partner Rhys Patchell in the halfbacks.

Twenty-year old Ioan Nicholas and Australian centre Paul Asquith come in for their first competitive starts of the season as they line up in the backline alongside the experienced Johnny McNicholl, Clayton Blommetjies and Davies.

Newcomer Marc Jones is named on the replacements bench as he looks to make his debut for the Scarlets, having made the move recently from Sale Sharks. Phil Price, Simon Gardiner, Tom Price and Uzair Cassiem provide cover for the pack with Kieran Hardy, Angus O’Brien and Steff Evans providing cover for the backline.

Looking ahead to the game head coach Wayne Pivac said; “We will be doing our very best to get a much stronger performance this weekend, which we will need to have. We saw the Kings beat a very good Glasgow team on the weekend. If that wasn’t a warning shot I don’t know what is.

“The Kings have probably given everyone a wake up call with their performance, obviously we play the way we did against Connacht and we’ll find every match tough. We have to keep working hard and make sure that we improve.

“There’ll be no excuses this weekend. We have to go out there and perform. You saw the energy and excitement that Connacht brought every time Connacht won a turnover and we felt that we weren’t as energetic as they were.

“The boys are hurting and we expect to see a much better performance.”

Scarlets team to take on Southern Kings, at Parc y Scarlets on Saturday 29thSeptember, kick-off 18:30;

15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Johnny McNicholl, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Paul Asquith, 11 Ioan Nicholas, 10 Rhys Patchell, 9 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 1 Wyn Jones, 2 Ryan Elias, 3 Werner Kruger, 4 Jake Ball, 5 David Bulbring, 6 Ed Kennedy, 7 Dan Davis, 8 Blade Thomson

Replacements; 16 Marc Jones, 17 Phil Price, 18 Simon Gardiner, 19 Tom Price, 20 Uzair Cassiem, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Angus O’Brien, 23 Steff Evans

Tickets are available now, click here, call the ticket office on 01554 29 29 39 – open until 19:00 this evening and from 09:00 tomorrow.

Rested; Leigh Halfpenny, Tom Prydie, Kieron Fonotia, Hadleigh Parkes, Gareth Davies, Ken Owens, Samson Lee
Unavailable; Steve Cummins, Lewis Rawlins, Will Boyde, James Davies, Dylan Evans, Jonathan Evans, Rob Evans, Josh Macleod, Aaron Shingler

Souther Kings team news –

The Ospreys team to play Zebre at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi on Saturday 29th September 2018, KO 4pm (local), is as follows:

15 Dan Evans 14 George North 13 Joe Thomas 12 Owen Watkin 11 Luke Morgan 10 Sam Davies 9 Aled Davies 1 Nicky Smith 2 Scott Otten 3 Ma’afu Fia 4 Bradley Davies 5 Adam Beard 6 Dan Lydiate 7 Justin Tipuric (Capt) 8 James King

REPLACEMENTS – 16 Scott Baldwin 17 Rhodri Jones 18 Tom Botha 19 Olly Cracknell 20 Sam Cross 21 Tom Habberfield 22 James Hook 23 Cory Allen

The following players were unavailable for selection due to injury:

Lloyd Ashley – Shoulder

Dan Baker – Knee

Gheorghe Gajion – Hamstring

Keelan Giles – Knee

Paul James – Shoulder

Will Jones – Shoulder

Lesley Klim – Hamstring

Giorgi Nemsadze – Neck

Sam Parry – Bicep

Luke Price- Fractured tibia

Gareth Thomas – Shoulder

Scott Williams – Hamstring

Ospreys Head Coach, Allen Clarke, said:

”Three home wins have given us a platform to go into back to back away games that will offer totally different challenges to the group over the next eight days.

“We’ll continue to take it one game at a time, we’re not looking any further than that. Our focus is on ourselves, and ensuring we do the basics well. There’s confidence in the group but it’s a realistic and respectful confidence, not a misplaced one.”

Forthcoming Fixtures

Sat 6 Oct – 3.00pm – Scarlets v Ospreys – Parc y Scarlets

Sat 13 Oct – 3.00pm – Ospreys v Pau – Liberty Stadium

Sat 20 Oct – 3.00pm – Worcester v Ospreys – Sixways

Fri 26 Oct – 8.05pm – Ospreys v Connacht – Morganstone Brewery Field

Hooker Ryan Elias will make his first competitive start of the season, against Southern Kings, at Parc y Scarlets tomorrow and he’s looking to make the most of the opportunity.

With club captain Ken Owens rested for the fifth round clash in the Guinness PRO14, Elias gets an opportunity to be named in the starting XV alongside fellow international props Wyn Jones and Werner Kruger.

“Ken is one of the best hookers in the world, a British and Irish Lion and a good leader, so you are learning from the best. We are both from Carmarthen and went to the same school and the same rugby club,” said Elias.

“He calls me his apprentice. It’s good to learn off him. He has a lot of time for me and I have a lot of time for him, there’s a respect there. I’m happy at the Scarlets and, the way things are going, I think it works. Hopefully, I’ll get a bit more game-time this year and some bigger games.”

Looking ahead to the game Elias said; “We’ve got some big games coming up. We’ve got a really proud record at home and hopefully this week against the Kings we’ll start to put things right.

“They had a good result last weekend. Their tails will be up.

“We didn’t play our best against Connacht. I’d imagine they’ll be coming here confident.

“We have to make sure that we fix things this week and make sure we right the wrongs. The main thing is getting the win and getting back on the horse.”

The First Minister of Wales is to launch a series of high-profile lectures to mark the centenary of the Department of international Politics at Aberystwyth University.

In a keynote address entitled ‘Towards a Better Union: Past, Present and Post Brexit prospects for the UK’, Carwyn Jones AM will analyse the challenges posed by the UK’s departure from the European Union.

The lecture will be delivered at 5pm on Thursday 11 October 2018 in the Main Hall of the Department of International Politics on Penglais campus.

Admission is free, all are welcome, and tickets for the lecture are available online at Tocyn.Cymru.

Carwyn Jones is an alumnus of Aberystwyth University, who graduated with a degree in Law in 1988.

His lecture is the first in the Centenary Speakers Series organised by the Department of International Politics to celebrate its 100th anniversary.

Professor Richard Beardsworth, Head of the Department of International Politics at Aberystwyth University, said: “We are delighted that the First Minister has agreed to deliver our inaugural centenary lecture. Brexit has dominated the political landscape, and this lecture by Carwyn Jones will assess the challenges of leaving the EU within Welsh, UK and international contexts. It will set the stage for a series of centenary lectures that brings together important leaders in our discipline to address the major global issues of the 21st century.”

Other speakers during the 2018-19 Centenary Speakers Series include:

• Professor Cynthia Enloe, Research Professor at Clark University, Massachusetts – 15 November 2018
• Professor Michael Cox, Director of LSE IDEAS and Emeritus Professor of International Relations at LSE – 4 December 2018
• Professor Louise Richardson – Vice-Chancellor, University of Oxford – 7 February 2019
• Professor Ken Booth – President of the David Davies Memorial Institute and former Head of the Department of International Politics at Aberystwyth – 21 February 2019
• Professor Steve Smith – Vice-Chancellor, Exeter University, and former Head of the Department of International Politics at Aberystwyth – 5 March 2019.
• Gideon Rachman, Chief Foreign Affairs Commentator, Financial Times – 28 March 2019
• Professors John Ikenberry (Princeton University) and Dan Deudney (John Hopkins University), April 2019

History
The Department of International Politics was established in 1919, shortly after the end of the First World War in which more than 100 Aberystwyth University students were killed.

Mid Wales businessman, benefactor and politician David Davies (the future Lord Davies of Llandinam) and his sisters Gwendoline and Margaret decided to donate £20,000 to commemorate the fallen students and to establish “a global centre of learning and research on international politics in Aberystwyth”.

In a letter to the University in autumn 1918, David Davies wrote: “It has occurred to my sisters and myself that the University of Wales and the Council of the College may be willing to allows us to found a Chair of International Politics at Aberystwyth, in memory of the fallen students of our university, for the study of those related problems of law and politics, of ethics and economics, which are raised by the project of a League of Nations, and for the encouragement of a truer understanding of civilisation, other than our own.”

Aberystwyth therefore became home to the world’s first chair in international politics, which was named in honour of the American president Woodrow Wilson – the man whose name is synonymous with the creation of the League of Nations for the maintenance of international justice and the preservation of peace.

As part of the 2018-19 centenary year, a special reunion for alumni of the Department of International Politics will be held in June 2019.

Further details about the centenary are available on website of the Department of International Politics.

Links:
Department of International Politics
https://www.aber.ac.uk/en/interpol/

International Politics Centenary
https://www.aber.ac.uk/en/interpol/about/centenary/

Photo supplied by Instagram account ‘mikethesnow’

The countdown is well and truly on to the annual Festival of the Senses in picturesque market town of Llandeilo in the Tywi Valley.

The three-day festival is a weekend of food, fun, entertainment and shopping opportunities – an event which signals the start of the build-up to Christmas in West Wales.

This year’s Festival of the Senses runs from November 16-18.

The festival has been running since 2008 and picked up a Carmarthenshire Tourism Association award in 2017.

“It really is a festival with something for everyone,” said organising committee member Christoph Fischer.

“The Llandeilo Festival of the Senses has something for all the family – and, of course, it’s free!”

The festival is the largest event of its kind in Carmarthenshire.

Last year, thousands of visitors and locals flocked to Llandeilo to enjoy the gastronomic delicacies of local and far-away produce.

Visitors danced to the music performed on the stage, gazed in awe at the colourful firework display and were delighted to see Santa and start their Christmas shopping experience.

There will be new elements added in to this year’s Festival of the Senses –

• Llandeilo Town WiFi – courtesy of the festival. This will be up and running for the festival and will cover the main shopping areas and compensate for sometimes patchy mobile phone reception.
• Two Park and Ride buses to give easy access to the town centre and two locations to save you driving through town – Ysgol Bro Dinefwr car park, which will be available from Friday 4pm, and one at The Hangout on the Beechwood industrial estate, Talley Road, where you can also sit down and wait in the warm and dry.
• Craft demonstrations with ‘Have A Go’ options in the Ebenezer Chapel, Crescent Road. There’ll be spinning, painting, book-binding. embroidery and much more with scheduled sessions and ‘drop in and chat’ opportunities with the craftsmen and artists.
• A Festival App for mobile and tablet users. This will run on the Llandeilo Town WiFi. It’ll keep visitors up-to-date with information about the festival, the entertainment timetable, special offers, weather forecast, reminder notifications and all you need to know about Llandeilo and the Festival of the Senses.
• A Farmer’s Market in the town centre, behind the Surgery, White Horse pub and NFU offices. There will be fresh and local produce from the Llandeilo Country Market, Black Mountain Food Hub and others.

The Festival of the Senses is a big draw for the way it fits snugly inside Llandeilo town centre.

The festival encompasses the town’s shops, pubs, cafes and restaurants, as well as offering craft and fashion stalls, food stalls, buskers, entertainment and much more.

Main stall areas for this year are:

• Arts and Craft Market – Llandeilo Civic Hall
• Arts and Crafts – The Old Library (situated in the town car park)
• Cubitts Food Court (the main town car park)
• Horeb Fashion Hall – Horeb Chapel
• King Street Food

Festival opening times are:

• 16th – 11am – 9.30pm
• 17th – 10am – 6pm
• 18th – 10am – 4pm

The event is bound to put visitors in the Christmas spirit.

It will also spark the senses as visitors can . . .

See

So much to see and do. You won’t know where to start…

Hear

Free entertainment throughout the weekend for all the family.

Smell

Stimulate your sense of smell with so many olfactory treats!

Taste

Be overwhelmed with the choices of food available when you visit… and to take home.

Touch

Textures and tactile experiences to excite your sense of touch.

Indulge

After stimulating your senses, spoil yourself with a touch of luxury.

Links –

You can keep in touch with the Festival of the Senses via the social media Hashtag #FoS2018

Twitter –

@LlandeiloFoS

Facebook –

https://www.facebook.com/LlandeiloFestivalOfSenses/

and the Facebook event page –

https://www.facebook.com/events/298921917565370/

Email

festivalofsenses@gmail.com

Website

https://fos.wales

Photos attached of festival logo, promotional poster and general scenes from previous festivals.

By Mark Jones, director of Carmarthen-based Clay Shaw Butler chartered accountants and business consultants. The Money Matters column appears in the Pembrokeshire Herald, the Carmarthenshire Herald and the Llanelli Herald newspapers.

In last week’s Money Matters column, we included some useful advice from the taxman at HMRC on reporting payroll information accurately and on time.

This week, we turn our attention to the National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage.

We pose the question: are you paying the correct rate?

The National Living Wage (NLW) and National Minimum Wage (NMW) rates have increased. More than two million people were entitled to an above-inflation pay rise when the new rates came into force.

If you are not paying the correct rate, you may receive a Notice of Underpayment from HMRC, setting out the arrears to be paid to your workers together with a penalty.

Employers may also be publicly named.

The new rates must be applied from the first day of the first pay period on or after 1 April 2018 and are as follows:

Those aged:

– 25 and over are entitled to at least £7.83 per hour (previously £7.50 per hour)

– 21 to 24 are entitled to at least £7.38 per hour (previously £7.05 per hour)

– 18 to 20 are entitled to at least £5.90 per hour (previously £5.60 per hour)

– Under 18 are entitled to at least £4.20 per hour (previously £4.05 per hour).

Apprentices are entitled to the Apprentice rate of £3.70 per hour (previously £3.50 per hour) if they are:

• Aged under 19
• Aged 19 or over and in the first year of their apprenticeship.

Apprentices aged 19 or over who have completed the first year of apprenticeship are also entitled to the age-related minimum wage:

– 19 to 20 year olds are entitled to at least £5.90 per hour

– 21 to 24 year olds are entitled to at least £7.38 per hour

– 25 year olds and over are entitled to at least £7.83 per hour.

The Government is currently running a campaign advising workers to check their pay and complain if they are being paid incorrectly.

If you need any advice on NLW and NMW rates, then please contact the team at Clay Shaw Butler.

You can find out more about money matters on the Clay Shaw Butler website (under our news for business section) –

http://www.clayshawbutler.com/news/latest-news-for-business

We have a strong and experienced team with great local knowledge all geared-up to helping you get the very best from your finances – whether that is as an individual or as a business.

We stay ahead of the game by putting great store by continual professional development for our staff.

With Investors In People status at Clay Shaw Butler, we care passionately about making sure our staff have all the tools they need to serve you, our customers.

Weblink – http://www.clayshawbutler.com

The team at Clay Shaw Butler can be contacted on 01267 228500.

The team at Clay Shaw Butler are on Twitter. Look for @clayshawbutler.