The Dragons welcome the Scarlets to Rodney Parade in a mouthwatering Welsh derby with vital Guinness PRO14 points on the line.
And Hill, who made his first appearance since last February in the Dragons’ impressive victory over Worcester Warriors in the European Challenge Cup last weekend, is confident the Gwent region are moving in the right direction under their new director of rugby.
“Dean has come in and he’s given a lot of boys confidence,” said Hill.
“He’s certainly put plans in place and when we go out there we know we’ve got a plan and everyone seems to be sticking to it.
“I’m pretty excited about what’s happening here. We’ve got a new defence coach which has been a massive positive.
“In a game of rugby if you’ve got a good defence you tend to win more games than you lose. Our defensive organisation has improved massively.
“The plan was for me to always have a run out during these Christmas derbies so it’s perfect timing. Hopefully now I can get a couple more appearances over Christmas.
“The derby games are the first ones you look at on the calendar and they are the games everybody wants to be involved in. You go through the year and you want to peak in these derby games.”
The Dragons recorded their first PRO14 victory over the Scarlets since 2013 at Judgement Day last May.
Wales second row Hill is confident they can inflict more pain on the west Walians, but is also respectful of the quality in the Scarlets ranks.
“They play exciting rugby,” said Hill. “They’ve got a southern hemisphere coach (Brad Mooar) and they like to play expansive rugby.
“Hopefully it is raining on Friday night which it usually does at Rodney Parade. We beat them on Judgement Day and that was a big win for us.
“They haven’t played at Rodney Parade in a competitive game for a while so that will be nice to get them on our home patch. We are coming off the back of a good win in Europe.
“Hopefully we can kick on and get another win this weekend.”
