Ben Roach will captain Dragons XV for the opening game of the Celtic Cup as they travel to Ireland to face Connacht Eagles at The Sportsground (KO 2pm) while ex-Wales U20 full back Phil Jones will lead Ospreys Development out at Irish Independence Park, Cork, to face Connacht (KO 7.30pm).
The Dragons XV, who ran out 53-38 winners when the two teams met last season, have named a youthful team as they aim to make a winning start to the tournament in Galway.
No 8 Roach leads the team – after agreeing terms with the region during the cup competition – and is joined in the starting line-up by fellow-Wales Sevens ace Owen Jenkins who plays full back.
Summer signing Jack Cosgrove starts at loosehead prop as he gets his first taste of action for the region.
Wales Under 20s stars Lennon Greggains, Dafydd Buckland, Aneurin Owen, Ed Scragg, Rio Dyer all start after summer exploits at the Junior World Championships in Argentina. Will Griffiths is named on the bench.
Head Coach Luke Narraway said: “We need to make sure we give these guys a platform to showcase what they have to the best of their ability and so we’re excited about the first game.
“The beauty about this competition is that most teams are concentrating on what they can deliver opposed to doing 10 hours of analysis and trying to stop what the opposition is strong at.
“That’s especially the case for the first game and everybody starts with a clean slate. We are concentrating on controlling what we can control.
“We want to produce something on the pitch that replicates what we have been doing in training. We want to get that transfer, which should lead to a good performance.”
Ospreys Development head coach, Richard Fussell, added, “It’s an exciting opportunity for this group of boys to experience travelling away to Ireland and more than less mirror imaging what the seniors do with the travelling arrangements.
“Having to stay over as a team will be a great experience for some of those boys who have never done it before.”
Dragons XV (v Connacht Eagles): Owen Jenkins, Rio Dyer, Connor Edwards, Aneurin Owen, James McCarthy, Evan Lloyd, Dafydd Buckland; Jack Cosgrove, Ellis Shipp, Luke Yendle, Ed Scragg, Max Williams, Lennon Greggains, Ben Fry, Ben Roach (c)
Replacements: Will Griffiths, Josh Reynolds, Henry Hibbs, Max Ayling, Benji Hoppe, Dan Babos, Jacob Botica, Joe Goodchild
Ospreys Development v (Munster): 15 Phil Jones (Capt) 14 Dewi Cross 13 Chay Smith 12 Callum Carson 11 Ben Cambriani 10 Josh Thomas 9 Connor Tantum; 1 Jordan Walters 2 Garin Lloyd 3 Jordan Pritchard 4 Matt Dodd 5 Shay Smallman 6 Iwan Shenton 7 Joe Grabham 8 Morgan Strong
Replacements:
16 Josh Moore 17 Rhys Davies 18 Ben Warren 19 Rhys Thomas 20 Cai Davies 21 Liam Seawood 22 Cameron Lewis 23 George Gasson
