Two players will make their debuts for the Newport Gwent Dragons on Friday night when the Men of Gwent travel to the Sports ground to take on Connacht.
Centre Rhodri Gomer-Davies and fly half Gareth McCarthy both come into the starting XV with head coach Paul Turner making a total of five changes to the team who lost to the Blues a fortnight ago.
The three other changes are in the forwards with Steve Jones coming in at hooker for Ben Daly while Joe Bearman takes over at No.8 in place of Nic Fitisemanu.
The other change sees Andy Hall come in for Luke Charteris and he takes over the captaincy armband. Hall has captained The Dragons on only one occasion when he led the side to a narrow 10-6 win over Bedford in pre season.
Connacht have not beaten a Welsh region since they beat The Dragons on 13th October but have also never lost their opening fixture of a new season.
The Dragons have not won in Ireland since a 28-21 victory against Ravenhill on 8th October 2004 but confidence is high following The Dragons first ever win at Stradey Park in the opening game of the season.
Speaking on the game captain Andrew Hall said, "After our performance against the Blues it is good to have Connacht as it doesn't get any easier. We have won only once over there so it is a tough place to go and get a result. Obviously I would like to keep my 100% record as captain and it is a huge honour for me to wear the captains armband and also a surprise. At the moment it seems to be all or nothing for me, I am either not involved or I am involved and I am captain!
"It has been a good two weeks training and we have started preparation early which has allowed us to focus on attention to detail. There is a buoyant mood in the camp, the boys have been bouncing around and everyone has a smile on their faces. However, there is also a quiet focus and they boys know what they have to do to get the win."
The last four fixtures between the two sides have all been won by the homes side on the day and The Dragons last win in Galway was on 1st May 2004.
Dragons Team
Martyn Thomas, Gareth Wyatt, Rhodri Gomer-Davies, Ashley Smith, Richard Mustoe, Gareth McCarthy, Andrew Williams, Adam Black, Steve Jones, Rhys Thomas, Andy Hall (c), Peter Sidoli, Jamie Ringer, Richard Parks, Joe Bearman.
Replacements
Ben Daly, Hugh Gustafson, Luke Charteris, Dan Lydiate, Nic Fitisemanu, Phil Dollman, Wayne Evans.
