The Men of Gwent travel to Parc Y Scarlets, Llanelli to take on the Scarlets in their first derby of the 2016/17 Guinness PRO12 season.
The position of fullback is filled by Welsh International Tom Prydie as he makes his first start for the Dragons after recovering from injury, he joins wings Pat Howard and Hallam Amos in the back three. The centre partnership sees the inclusion of ex-Scarlet Adam Warren who partners youngster Jack Dixon. Fly-half Nick Macleod gets the nod and is joined in the halfbacks by scrumhalf Charlie Davies.
The front row has one change made to it as hooker Rhys Buckley joins props Sam Hobbs and Brok Harris. The second row sees Nick Crosswell move to lock from flanker and Cory Hill joins him. The back row sees Lewis Evans skipper move to flanker alongside Nic Cudd, with Ed Jackson returning at number 8.
Looking forward to the derby clash against Scarlets, Dragons loosehead prop Sam Hobbs commented: “It's going to be a fierce derby and you have to turn up with pride and passion and get stuck in. If you can't get up for these games then you are in the wrong job, there are a lot of personal battles and a lot of pride at stake.
"We will be going in as underdogs but have to go there with nothing to lose, force our game on them to put them under pressure and see how they react."
He continued: “One of my personal targets when coming to the Region was to put a big emphasis on winning some derbies and turning that script on its head.
“It gives the fans a bit of pride on a Monday morning when they go into work and gives the boys a bit of a lift.”
The replacements bench has five changes made to it as Darran Harris, Lloyd Fairbrother, Matthew Screech, Ollie Griffiths and Sarel Pretorius join Thomas Davies, Angus O’Brien and Sam Beard.
Newport Gwent Dragons team to face Scarlets
15 Tom Prydie, 14 Pat Howard, 13 Adam Warren, 12 Jack Dixon, 11 Hallam Amos, 10 Nick Macleod, 9 Charlie Davies; 1 Sam Hobbs, 2 Rhys Buckley, 3 Brok Harris, 4 Nick Crosswell, 5 Cory Hill, 6 Lewis Evans ©, 7 Nic Cudd, 8 Ed Jackson.
Replacements; Darran Harris, Thomas Davies, Lloyd Fairbrother, Matthew Screech, Ollie Griffiths, Sarel Pretorius, Angus O’Brien, Sam Beard.
