Scarlets v Dragons: Teams

Wales stars Stephen Jones and Matthew Rees return to the Scarlets line-up for the region's third Welsh derby in 12 days as they welcome the Dragons to Parc y Scarlets.

The duo return, along with skipper Simon Easterby, after being rested for the away game against the Ospreys on December 27.

Coach Nigel Davies is eager that the New Years Day home clash against the Dragons sees a return to the winning way which saw off the Cardiff Blues at Parc y Scarlets on December 20.

Jones replaces young in-form fly-half Rhys Priestland, whilst Rees comes in for Mahonri Schwalger and Easterby starts at flanker in place of Vernon Cooper who suffered a back injury against the Ospreys.

"The Dragons are a very good, combative side who play to their strengths and who have a strong, experienced pack," Davies said.

"They're aggressive, will look to take us on in the set-piece and in the last couple of games have been very opportunistic with the chances they've had.

"If you switch off for a moment they'll hurt you. It'll be tough for us because it's difficult to get anything from the Dragons - we'll just have to build a performance."

Scarlets: 15 Morgan Stoddart, 14 Gareth Morris, 13 Regan King, 12 Jon Davies, 11 Mark Jones, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Martin Roberts, 8 David Lyons, 7 Jonathan Edwards, 6 Simon Easterby (c), 5 Simon Maling, 4 Dominic Day, 3 Deacon Manu, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Phil John.
Replacements: 16 Craig Cross, 17 Mahonri Schwalger, 18 Lou Reed, 19 Dafydd Jones, 20 Gavin Cattle, 21 Rhys Priestland, 22 Darren Daniel.

Dragons: 15 Jason Tovey, 14 Gareth Wyatt, 13 Rory Sidey, 12 Ashley Smith, 11 Richard Fussell, 10 Shaun Connor, 9 Wayne Evans, 8 Lewis Evans, 7 Colin Charvis, 6 Jamie Ringer, 5 Hoani MacDonald, 4 Adam Jones, 3 Rhys Thomas, 2 Tom Willis (c), 1 Nigel Hall.
Replacements: 16 Steve Jones, 17 Adam Black, 18 Danny Lydiate, 19 Andrew Hall, 20 Gareth Maule, 21 Phillip Dollman, 22 Thomas Isaacs.