Dragons v Scarlets: Teams

Dragons captain Tom Willis will make his first appearance of the season for the derby clash with the Scarlets.

The return of the talismanic hooker is one of three changes to the starting XV.

Phil Price joins Willis in the front-row at the expense of Hugh Gustafson while Adam Hughes comes in for Matthew Pewtner on the wing.

On the bench there is a first appearance for Tom Cheeseman, who has joined the Dragons on a season-long loan from Bath.

And Turner is expecting a close encounter against their Welsh rivals.

"We've had some great battles with the Scarlets over the years - and some controversial ones too and they are serious opposition," he said.

Dangerous

"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."

The Scarlets have made just two changes for the clash - with Josh Turnbull and Vernon Cooper added to the pack.

And although the Dragons have made a slow start to the season, coach Nigel Davies is taking nothing for granted.

"They will need to be up for this game," said Davies.

"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.

"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."

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.