Dragons v Edinburgh: PRO12 preview
Last Updated: 25/11/16 3:31pm
Newport Gwent Dragons skipper Lewis Evans returns for their PRO12 clash with Edinburgh at Rodney Parade on Sunday.
Dragons head coach Kingsley Jones has made five changes to the side that beat the Scarlets in the Anglo-Welsh Cup as the Welsh Region returns to PRO12 action
The back three has no changes made to it as full-back Carl Meyer retains his position alongside wings Pat Howard and Ashton Hewitt. The centre partnership sees one change as Jack Dixon replaces Adam Warren alongside last weekend's double try scorer Sam Beard. Young fly-half Angus O'Brien keeps his spot and he is joined in the half-backs by scrum-half Tavis Knoyle.
The front row has two changes made to it as loosehead prop Sam Hobbs is joined by hooker Thomas Rhys Thomas and tighthead prop Brok Harris. Jones makes no changes to the second row as Nick Crosswell and Rynard Landman are named, with the back row seeing the return of skipper Lewis Evans alongside flanker Ollie Griffiths and number 8 Ed Jackson.
The replacements bench also has five changes made to it as Rhys Buckley, Phil Price, Lloyd Fairbrother, Sarel Pretorius and Geraint Rhys Jones join Matthew Screech, Nic Cudd and Tyler Morgan.
Edinburgh have made two personnel changes to his starting side with Michael Allen named on the left wing in place of the injured Tom Brown, and Nasi Manu returns to the back-row after recovering from a shoulder injury.
With Manu's inclusion at number eight, Magnus Bradbury - who is released from the national squad after making his Scotland debut in last weekend's win over Argentina - moves to blindside flanker.
Dragons: 15 Carl Meyer, 14 Pat Howard, 13 Sam Beard, 12 Jack Dixon, 11 Ashton Hewitt, 10 Angus O'Brien, 9 Tavis Knoyle; 1 Sam Hobbs, 2 Thomas Rhys Thomas, 3 Brok Harris, 4 Nick Crosswell, 5 Rynard Landman, 6 Lewis Evans ©, 7 Ollie Griffiths, 8 Ed Jackson.
Replacements: 16 Rhys Buckley,17 Phil Price, 18 Lloyd Fairbrother, 19 Matthew Screech, 20 Nic Cudd, 21 Sarel Pretorius, 22 Geraint Rhys Jones, 23 Tyler Morgan.
Edinburgh: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Damien Hoyland, 13 Chris Dean, 12 Phil Burleigh, 11 Michael Allen, 10 Jason Tovey, 9 Sean Kennedy, 1 Jack Cosgrove, 2 Neil Cochrane (c), 3 Murray McCallum, 4 Fraser McKenzie, 5 Ben Toolis, 6 Magnus Bradbury, 7 Jamie Ritchie, 8 Nasi Manu.
Replacements: 16 Stuart McInally, 17 Kyle Whyte, 18 Felipe Arregui, 19 Lewis Carmichael, 20 Viliame Mata, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Glenn Bryce.
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