Dragons v Scarlets: Teams

Dragons coach Darren Edwards has opted against making any changes to his line up for the derby clash with the Scarlets on Friday.

The Rodney Parade side have endured an awful run of form of late, failing to win in their past five encounters.

And although they did hold Glasgow to a draw, their last win in the RaboDirect PRO12 came back in September against Ulster.

However Edwards has retained the same starting XV from the 28-9 defeat to Cardiff Blues last time out - although back row Lewis Evans does come in on the bench for Darren Waters.

Competition

In complete contrast, the Scarlets highlight their current strength-in-depth by making 14 changes to their line-up from the 22-14 victory over the Ospreys.

Only Dominic Day keeps his spot, although Ken Owens, Phil John, Deacon Manu, Sione Timani, Johnathan Edwards, Rhodri Williams, Stephen Jones and Iongi Viliame - who all benched against the Ospreys - are handed starts.

Despite the wholesale changes, though, coach Nigel Davies insists his side are not looking beyond Friday's encounter.

"We don't underestimate the size of the task ahead of us on Friday night but neither should anyone underestimate the competition for places within our squad and how close some of the calls on selection currently are," he said.

Dragons: 15 Martyn Thomas, 14 Tonderai Chavhanga, 13 Adam Hughes, 12 Lewis Robling, 11 Aled Brew, 10 Jason Tovey, 9 Wayne Evans, 8 Toby Faletau. 7 Gavin Thomas, 6 Danny Lydiate, 5 Rob Sidoli, 4 Adam Jones, 3 Nathan Buck, 2 Lloyd Burns, 1 Nathan Williams.
Replacements: 16 Steve Jones, 17 Phil Price, 18 Dan Way, 19 Jevon Groves, 20 Lewis Evans, 21 Joe Bedford, 22 Anitelea Tuilagi, 23 Will Harries.

Scarlets: 15 Dan Newton, 14 Viliame Iongi, 13 Adam Warren, 12 Gareth Maule (capt), 11 Andy Fenby, 10 Stephen Jones , 9 Rhodri Williams, 8 Kieran Murphy, 7 Johnathan Edwards, 6 Josh Turnbull, 5 Dominic Day, 4 Sione Timani, 3 Deacon Manu, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Phil John.
Replacements: 16 Emyr Phillips, 17 Iestyn Thomas, 18 Peter Edwards, 19 Lou Reed, 20 Richie Pugh, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Aled Thomas, 23 Daniel Evans.