Bertranou set for Dragons debut
ARGENTINA international Gonzalo Bertranou will make his debut as Dragons face Zebre in the Guinness PRO14 in Italy today (5.15pm).
Scrum-half Bertranou is handed starting jersey for the clash at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi in Parma as boss Dean Ryan makes a total of five changes to his starting line-up.
Back row Harrison Keddie returns to captain the side while lock Joe Maksymiw is also back in the second row alongside Ben Carter, who this week signed new terms at the region.
The final changes come up front where prop Greg Bateman and hooker Ellis Shipp are both named.
Jamie Roberts returns to the matchday squad on the bench.
Ryan said: “We’re looking forward to the game in Italy and there is a huge desire in the squad to get the right result.
“Zebre showed against Ospreys that they are incredibly physical. We need to make sure we match that and also look to impose the game we want to play onto them.”
Meanwhile, Scarlets head coach Glenn Delaney has made five changes to his starting line-up for today’s vital Guinness PRO14 Conference B clash with Edinburgh at BT Murrayfield (noon).
Three of the changes are injury enforced, while hooker Ryan Elias and lock Jake Ball have returned to the Wales camp this week.
In the back three, Ryan Conbeer picked up an ankle injury in last weekend’s win over Benetton so Tom Prydie comes into the side on the right wing.
Elsewhere behind the scrum, flyhalf Sam Costelow is sidelined because of an ankle injury which means Dan Jones returns to the No.10 jersey to partner Dane Blacker.
There are two changes in the front row with hooker Marc Jones and tighthead Pieter Scholtz coming into the side for Elias and the injured Javan Sebastian, who suffered a back issue against Benetton.
Dragons (v Zebre): J Williams; J Holmes, A Owen, J Dixon, A Hewitt; S Davies, G Bertranou; G Bateman, E Shipp, L Fairbrother, B Carter, J Maksymiw, H Keddie (c), B Fry, H Taylor. Reps: R Hibbard, J Reynolds, A Jarvis, J Davies, D Baker, R Williams, J Lewis, J Roberts.
Scarlets (v Edinburgh): J McNicholl; T Prydie, T Morgan, S Hughes (c), S Evans; D Jones, D Blacker; P Price, M Jones, P Scholtz, M Jones, S Lousi, U Cassiem, J Morgan, Si Kalamafoni. Reps: T Davies, K Mathias, A Jeffries, T Ratuva, E Kennedy, W Homer, A O’Brien, P Asquith.