The Scarlets have named a starting squad which mixes experience and rising talent like Adam Warren at centre who will appear alongside Gareth Maule who returns from injury.
Scottish international Sean Lamont starts on the wing with a return to the starting XV for Nick Reynolds, who has been back on form with Llanelli following an ankle injury.
And new to the mix and on the bench is Tongan winger Viliami Iongi who landed in Llanelli this week from Auckland.
Stephen Jones, who appears in a Scarlets shirt for a staggering 300th time, is handed the captain’s armband after opting to play for his region this weekend instead of the Barbarians.
The Scarlets are without eight of their front line players who have been called up to Wales this week including Tavis Knoyle, Jon Davies, Matthew Rees, George North, Rhys Priestland, Liam Williams, Scott Williams and Rhodri Jones.
Newport Gwent Dragons have begun their European Challenge Cup campaign with back to back wins over Prato and Perpignan, but in RaboDirect PRO12 play have won just one of their last four matches. The Dragons have not won away from home in this competition since a visit to Aironi on 20 February.
Scarlets Head Coach Nigel Davies: “This fixture gives us the opportunity to bring back some of the boys who started the season so well with us and have been waiting for their chances.
“It’s been good to see the boys pushing for places and depth building and this also links to the good work that’s being done by our Premiership clubs with the players. We work closely with the coaches and it’s a real strong point in this region.
“The Dragons will be keen to come here and make a statement and we’ve got to be ready for that, it’s a very competitive league and getting stronger. We know the Dragons are a good team and battle it out in the contact area – they’re a well-coached side and it will be a difficult game for us. But we have to come out and backing up our performance up at Northampton with a win.”
Scarlets: 15 Daniel Evans, 14 Nick Reynolds, 13 Adam Warren, 12 Gareth Maule, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Stephen Jones (capt), 9 Gareth Davies, 1 Phil John, 2 Ken Owens, 3 Rhys Thomas, 4 Sione Timani, 5 Damian Welch 6 Aaron Shingler, 7 Johnathan Edwards, 8 Ben Morgan.
Replacements: Emyr Phillips, Iestyn Thomas, Deacon Manu, Lou Reed, Mat Gilbert, Rhodri Williams, Dan Newton, Viliami Iongi.
