There will be new faces on display as the Dragons take on Bath in the opening round of this season’s LV= Cup (Saturday 2:30pm)
Joe Bedford will captain the Dragons from scrum half as the Welsh side hand out debuts to lock Royce Cadman and Academy/Cross Keys wing Luke Williams.
“There are quite a few new faces on the team sheet,” said Dragons Head Coach Darren Edwards. “Several of our development and academy players will be out on the park as well as representatives from our Premiership sides.
“Over the next 2 weeks, not only do our fringe players get the opportunity to challenge for a first team place, it also gives our coaching team the opportunity to challenge themselves and give the players new perspectives."
Bath are also set to hand out debuts to prop Charlie Beech, lock Will Spencer and wing Olly Woodburn. There could also be first appearances from academy hooker, Will Tanner, and Samoan prop, Anthony Perenise, who have both been named on the bench.
Flanker, Andy Beattie, will captain the side while Matt Banahan returns from the World Cup to make his first appearance of the season at inside centre. It will also be Banahan's 100th appearance for the club.
Bath Director of rugby Sir Ian McGeechan: "[The LV= Cup] is important as we want to keep evolving our game. We've played pretty well in the Premiership but have probably thrown a couple of games away."
"We are just working at the moment with 28 players and five of those are academy boys," he added. "It has been a benefit training the senior academy boys with the first-team squad. Looking forward, it looks well for the future."
Dragons: 15.Martyn Thomas, 14.Tonderai Chavhanga, 13.Tom Riley, 12.Lewis Robling, 11.Matthew Pewtner, 10.Matthew Jones, 9.Joe Bedford (capt), 1.Nathan Williams, 2.Rhys Buckley, 3.Nathan Buck, 4.Royce Cadman, 5.Scott Morgan, 6.Jevon Groves, 7.Darren Waters, 8.Hugo Ellis.
Replacements: 16.Sam Parry, 17.Hugh Gustafson, 18.Keiron Jenkins, 19.Rob Sidoli, 20.Tom Brown, 21.Wayne Evans, 22.Luke Williams, 23.Steffan Jones
Bath: 15.Jack Cuthbert, 14.Olly Woodburn, 13.Matt Carraro, 12.Matt Banahan, 11.Tom Biggs, 10.Tom Heathcote, 9.Mark McMillan, 1.Charlie Beech, 2.Ross Batty, 3.Mark Lilley, 4.Will Spencer, 5.Dave Attwood, 6.Andy Beattie (capt), 7.Guy Mercer, 8.Simon Taylor
Replacements: 16.Will Tanner, 17.Nathan Catt, 18.Anthony Perenise, 19.Ryan Caldwell, 20.Will Skuse, 21.Chris Cook, 22.Paul Roberts, 23.Nick Abendanon
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