Argentina international Gonzalo Bertranou will make his debut as Dragons face Zebre in the Guinness PRO14 in Northern Italy on Saturday afternoon (kick-off 5.15pm UK time).
Scrum half Bertranou is handed starting jersey for the clash at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi in Parma as boss Dean Ryan makes a total of five changes to his starting line-up.
Back row Harrison Keddie returns to captain the side while lock Joe Maksymiw is also back in the second row alongside Ben Carter, who this week signed new terms at the region.
The final changes come up front where prop Greg Bateman and hooker Ellis Shipp are both named.
Josh Reynolds and Aaron Jarvis are among the replacements as Ryan shuffles his front row resources while centre Jamie Roberts also returns to the match day squad.
Ryan said: “We’re looking forward to the game in Italy and there is a huge desire in the squad to get the right result.
“We know there will be expectation to see if we can convert opportunities into a win this weekend and that’s the challenge we are ready to face.
“Zebre showed against Ospreys that they are incredibly physical. We need to make sure we match that and also look to impose the game we want to play onto them.”
Dragons (v Zebre): Jordan Williams, Jonah Holmes, Aneurin Owen, Jack Dixon, Ashton Hewitt, Sam Davies, Gonzalo Bertranou; Greg Bateman, Ellis Shipp, Lloyd Fairbrother, Ben Carter, Joe Maksymiw, Harrison Keddie (c), Ben Fry, Huw Taylor
Replacements: Richard Hibbard, Josh Reynolds, Aaron Jarvis, Joe Davies, Dan Baker, Rhodri Williams, Josh Lewis, Jamie Roberts
