The break from league action gives head coach Steve Law the opportunity to rest some of his squad and give opportunities to a number of younger players.
Matthew Minty starts at full back with Stuart Thomas at outside half. Lewis Hudd from the Dragons’ Academy starts on the right wing while local boy Josh Jones comes in at centre to make his first team debut. Matthew John and Scott Williams retain their places.
Up front there are several changes to last week’s pack. Only Matthew Pettit and Kyle Maiden remain from the side which started against Aberavon. Dan Preece and Ben Roberts make up the front row, Chris Bundy partners Maiden in the second row and the back row changes completely. Phil Sargent makes a welcome return and is joined on the flank by Tom Organ. Sam Feehan takes over the captain’s armband from No. 8.
Law commented: “We remain focussed on the job in hand but I wanted to give some of the fringe players a chance to stake a claim for a starting place.
“Neath have seen the return from injury of a number of their first team squad and are playing well. They present us with a good challenge we are all looking forward to.”
The Welsh All Blacks beat Bedwas at home in the competition last October and they make several changes from the side that lost at Pontypridd last week.
Behind the scrum, Lloyd Phillips partners Dean Cummins at centre with Luc Jones coming in at scrum-half.
Neath coach Patrick Horgan added: “We had a lot more of the game at Pontypridd last week than the final score suggested but we were disappointed that concentration levels dropped off at vital moments, gifting Ponty some pretty soft tries.
“We have stressed at training this week that against the top sides in Wales – and Bedwas are presently the League leaders – we cannot afford to let our guard drop.
“We have introduced a lot of newcomers this season and we are looking to them to match the very high and demanding standards we have here at The Gnoll and we are looking for a big improvement all round especially after doing so well at Aberavon.”
