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Wayne Pivac begins his final Scarlets campaign with a friendly against Bristol on 18 August

Scarlets assistant coaches Stephen Jones and Byron Hayward would "be great" for Wales, says British and Irish Lions hooker Ken Owens.

Head coach Wayne Pivac succeeds Warren Gatland as Wales boss after the World Cup and his current backroom staff have been linked with joining him.

"They've been absolutely outstanding with the Scarlets," said Owens.

"It would be great to work under them if they got the opportunity at international level."

Attack coach Jones and defence coach Hayward are contracted to the region until the end of the 2019-20 season.

Alongside Pivac and Ioan Cunningham (set piece coach), they won the Pro12 title in 2016-17, reached the Pro14 final last season, as well as the semi-final of the European Champions Cup.

Scarlets coaching team L-R: Byron Hayward, Stephen Jones, Wayne Pivac and Ioan Cunningham

Owens said the former Wales fly-halves had been a "huge part of our success".

"I'm sure Wayne will have a shortlist and he'll look for the best people to fit that role.

"It would be great if it was Stephen and Byron, but I'm sure Wayne will take his time and pick the right men for the job."

Pivac will not be able to stick with Wales' current defence coach as Shaun Edwards will also depart after the 2019 World Cup to take up the head coach role with Super League side Wigan.

"He'll (Edwards) be a huge loss," said Owens.

"Shaun's been outstanding and an integral part of Wales' success over the last decade. It'll be sad to see him go, but that's the professional game. It's a big opportunity for him and I wish him well.

"Wales has got a big 18 months coming up and I'm sure he'll be giving it absolutely everything."