Preview: Dragons v Scarlets

The Scarlets have announced a strong starting line-up for their Rodney Parade trip to face the Dragons in the Magners League on Friday.

The Scarlets have named a strong starting line-up for their Rodney Parade short trip to face the Dragons in the Magners League on Friday.

Round Four's encounter is the first in a Welsh derby double-header for the Scarlets – who then entertain old rivals the Ospreys at Parc y Scarlets.

The next two games are seen as crucial to the Scarlets as the West Wales region seeks to build momentum in its Magners League campaign.

“These two games are massive for us as a region not only as local derbies but because it's all about the momentum factor and getting into a winning habit – so that we can go into the next series of games on the back of success which helps breed confidence,” said Head Coach Nigel Davies.

There are only two changes to the Scarlets XV that put in a commanding six-try winning performance over Aironi last weekend. The only changes are Josh Turnbull who starts at flanker along with experienced lock and Scarlets' seasoned campaigner Vernon Cooper who joins Lou Reed at lock.

The Scarlets have won their last four matches against Dragons but will be not be taking that for granted against their Welsh derby rivals who have strong home form and a point to prove after their last outing against Cardiff Blues last weekend.

“They will need to be up for this game. The Dragons are team with a lot to play for this weekend as we have. And they will be hurting after their last performance so it will be backs against the wall for them and they're a dangerous animal, when that's the case,” continued Davies.

“They will also be playing in their environment, which can be intimidating for visitors. The Dragons are always a different proposition at home and will come out all guns blazing and we are expecting that – so we know that physically we have to match them.

“We have to be very accurate, as much as there is a lot of potential in our back line, we'll need get our type of ball in the right areas and we build into the game, not but pressure on ourselves and not to throw the ball too wide too early.

“It's about being very tight on our game plan, in the heat of this battle we're not going to be able to second guess them. There will be a lot of pressure on the players because of where it is and because it's a local derby. We can't allow them to come into the game through our mistakes – and the thing that underpins that is our ability to front-up physically.”

Meanwhile, Dragons captain Tom Willis returns to lead the Men of Gwent and Tom Cheeseman gets his first call-up in Dragons colours for the game.

Phil Price replaces Hugh Gustafson and Adam Hughes comes in for Matthew Pewtner as coach Paul Turner makes just three changes from the team that faced the Blues last week.

“Our win against Glasgow was pretty convincing but there was still a lack of cohesion,” said Turner.

“We finished last season with about seven first-team players on crutches and 9 players who didn't return to training until the 23 August, we have not started as we would have liked, but the problems are mainly caused by the lack of training time together.

“We've had some great battles with the Scarlets over the years – and some controversial ones too and they are serious opposition. They have a very good set-piece and lots of quality players. Although they got off to what seemed a very poor start in Italy, Treviso have since shown that far from being the also-rans in the league, they are serious competitors in this competition.

“We missed 23 first-up tackles against the Blues and if you do that you are going to get punished for it. We need to be more clinical tonight and ensure that our defence is well-organised and well-executed. Our coaches worked very hard last season to create a style of play which has been effective and demonstrated some great rugby, but we have to ensure that we keep the standard even when we have key players out.”

Form: Scarlets have won their last four matches against Newport Gwent Dragons. Scarlets, along with the Blues, have the best record of teams visiting Rodney Parade in the Magners League, each having achieved four previous victories. Newport Gwent Dragons' only victory in their last five Magners League encounters was 23-11 over Glasgow at Rodney Parade in round two. Dragons have won four of their last five home matches. Scarlets have won their last two games in the Magners League, but both matches were played at Parc y Scarlets. The West Walians have slipped to five straight defeats on the road in the Magners League since they beat the Dragons at Rodney Parade on New Year's Eve.

The teams:

Dragons: 15 Will Harries, 14 Adam Hughes, 13 Tom Riley, 12 Rhodri Gomer Davies, 11 Aled Brew, 10 Matthew Jones, 9 Wayne Evans, 8 Gavin Thomas, 7 Robin Sowden-Taylor, 6 Danny Lydiate, 5 Rob Sidoli, 4 Luke Charteris, 3 Ben Castle, 2 Tom Willis (capt), 1 Phil Price.
Replacements: 16 Lloyd Burns, 17 Nigel Hall, 18 Hugh Gustafson, 19 Adam Jones, 20 Andrew Coombs, 21 Shaun Connor, 22 Nicky Griffiths, 23 Tom Cheeseman.

Scarlets: 15 Andy Fenby, 14 George North, 13 Regan King, 12 Jon Davies, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Tavis Knoyle, 8 David Lyons, 7 Johnathan Edwards, 6 Josh Turnbull, 5 Vernon Cooper, 4 Lou Reed, 3 Deacon Manu, 2 Matthew Rees (capt), 1 Iestyn Thomas.
Replacements: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Phil John, 18 Rhys Thomas, 19 Jonny Fa'amatuainu, 20 Dominic Day, 21 Martin Roberts, 22 Gareth Maule, 23 Rhys Priestland.

Date: Friday, September 24
Kick-off: 19:05 BST
Venue: Rodney Parade
Referee: James Jones (WRU)
Assistant Referees: Hugh Watkins, Phil Connett (both WRU)
TMO: Neil Ballard (WRU)