The 27-16 victory at BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park brought an end to a run of two consecutive defeats in the Guinness PRO12 and kept the Blues in the hunt of a top six finish.
They slipped to a disappointing derby defeat to the Scarlets in October but recorded a double over their west Wales rivals last season.
The Scarlets’ seven game winning run in the Guinness PRO12 came to an end against the Ospreys on December 27, however at Parc y Scarlets their only defeat this season came at the hands of Munster in the opening round of the Guinness PRO12.
Danny Wilson has made two changes to the side that defeated the Dragons with Rhun Williams back fit following a foot injury to start on the wing – with Tom James and Blaine Scully unavailable – and Taufa’ao Filise stepping up from to bench at tight-head prop.
What they said
Danny Wilson said: “We won both Christmas derbies last season and it would be great to do it two years on the bounce.
“Parc y Scarlets is a very tough venue and they are a very tough side to play but we have come off the back of a win and a first-half performance which will give us a bit of confidence.
“Last season we had a good away win there but historically it is a tough place to go – the Scarlets have a passionate crowd and are a proud region.
“Derbies are about who wins the physical battle and last year we won that and that led to a really big win for us. We will need to have that and more this time around.
“The Scarlets are in form at the moment, they’ve had a great run, including a big win against Toulon and have a squad full of quality so we will need to be right on top of our game to have a chance.”
Lloyd Williams said: “It was a win and a good results against Dragons, but it wasn’t the best performance we’ve put in this season. It’s important to develop certain areas of our game ahead of this weekend.
“We started the game well, and it’s important we aim to do the same away from home at Parc y Scarlets on Sunday. Scarlets are a team who, if they take the lead, they can build on that and really control a game.
“They have a solid defence and a strong pack, therefore it’s important we start the game well and try to unlock their defence early on.
“They’ve shown how good a team they are earlier in the season, when they visited BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park, so we expect a challenge and I’m sure they’ll be determined to put things right following the loss to Ospreys.”
Nick Williams:
Scarlets: A Thomas; J McNicholl, J Davies, S Williams (capt), S Evans; R Patchell, J Evans; W Jones, R Elias, S Lee, J Ball, L Rawlins, T Beirne , J Barclay, W Boyde. Reps; E Phillips, R Evans, W Kruger, T Price, J Macleod, G Davies, D Jones, H Parkes.
Cardiff Blues: M Morgan; A Cuthbert, R Lee-Lo, W Halaholo, R Williams; S Shingler, L Williams; R Gill, K Dacey, T Filise, M Cook, J Down, J Navidi, N Williams, S Warburton (capt). Reps: K Myhill, B Thyer, S Andrews, J Hoeata, E Jenkins, T Williams, N Robinson, C Allen.