The Cell C Shark round off the third-round action when they face the Dragons from 20h35 at Rodney Park in Newport.
Last week, the Dragons caused a mighty upset when they ended a long win drought at their home ground of Rodney Parade with a shock 23-17 win over Irish giants Munster.
The KwaZulu-Natalians started brightly against Zebre Parma in their second-round match, but had to fight off a furious fightback from the Italian side to eventually win that game 42-37. Thomas du Toit's team know they will have to show better concentration and defensive resolve if they want to slay the 11th-placed Dragons in Newport.
Prediction: It will be a match decided in the final ten minutes of the match with the Cell C Sharks the winner with six points.
Fly-half Will Reed will make his first appearance of the season when Dragons RFC face Cell C Sharks in the United Rugby Championship at Rodney Parade on Saturday.
The Men of Gwent make a total of three changes to the side that defeated Munster Rugby in the first game of the season on home soil last weekend.
Reed is the only change to the back line, with JJ Hanrahan ruled out of the game as a precaution after picking up a knock in training. Hanrahan is expected to be fit for Round 4.
Lock Ben Carter is recalled to partner captain Will Rowlands in the second row. Carter’s return sees George Nott move into the back row to occupy the blindside flanker jersey.
The final change is a first start of the season for Wales international hooker Elliot Dee, with Bradley Roberts moving to the bench.
The return of lock Joe Davies is the only other change among the replacements.
Head Coach Dai Flanagan said: “Sharks will be physical and there is a lot of quality in their side. We need to make sure we match the physicality they bring and stay true to ourselves.
“It was a big result and performance by us against Munster last time out. Now we must replicate it, match it and ensure we get better week by week.
“We need to step forward as a squad again and if we you stay true to ourselves, work hard, we'll be in this fight together.”
The Cell C Sharks know that the clash against the Dragons this Saturday, in their second tour match of this year’s Vodacom United Rugby Championship is going to be a challenge.
Just two injury-enforced changes has been made to the team that defeated Zebre last week, where Justin Basson comes into the starting lineup for Gerbrandt Grobler, with Hyron Andrew taking his place on the bench as well as Anthony Volmink replacing Fred Zeilinga.
Cell C Sharks assistant coach Noel McNamara has warned just how tough this match is expected to be.
“We saw with their performance against Munster, they’re in a really positive place and I’m sure people sat up and took note of that result.
“We’re under no illusions as to the challenge we face on Saturday.”
Talking how the Cell C Sharks’ approach might change, taking on Welsh opposition after playing the Italians in the first game McNamara admitted that, “The weather and surface is going to be different; we saw against Zebre the weather was perfect, the surface fantastic and quick but here it is wet and cold.
“That’s one thing, in terms of playing the Dragons, they’re physical and they go hard at the breakdown so that’s going to be particularly important. They have a good set-piece, they caused Munster plenty of problems at maul and scrum time. And they have pace, they have international wingers and if we give them opportunities, we’ll be in trouble.
“We’re looking forward to getting stuck into a very physical and confrontational contest.”
While the weather may not come to the party, McNamara pointed out that they would be playing on a soccer pitch which won’t get bogged down.
“We are used to a wet ball in Durban, not so much from rain as the heat and humidity, the challenge for us it to have an all-round game, to have the ability to play and at times, when you need to play pressure rugby as well. We’re very much of the mindset that we need to adapt, before or even during the game.”
Teams:
Dragons RFC: 15. Angus O’Brien, 14. Rio Dyer, 13. Sio Tomkinson, 12. Jack Dixon, 11. Ashton Hewitt, 10. Will Reed, 9. Rhodri Williams, 8. Ross Moriarty, 7. Taine Basham, 6. George Nott, 5. Will Rowlands (c), 4. Ben Carter, 3. Lloyd Fairbrother, 2. Elliot Dee, 1. Aki Seiuli. Replacements: 16. Bradley Roberts, 17. Rob Evans, 18. Chris Coleman, 19. Joe Davies, 20. Aaron Wainwright, 21. Lewis Jones, 22. Max Clark, 23. Jordan Williams.
Cell C Sharks: 15. Aphelele Fassi, 14. Werner Kok, 13. Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 12. Ben Tapuai, 11. Thaakir Abrahams, 10. Boeta Chamberlain, 9. Grant Williams, 8. Phendulani Buthelezi, 7. Dylan Richardson, 6. James Venter, 5. Reniel Hugo, 4. Justin Basson, 3.Thomas du Toit (c), 2. Kerron van Vuuren, 1. Ntuthuko Mchunu. Replacements: 16. Dan Jooste, 17. Dian Bleuler, 18. Carlu Sadie, 19. Hyron Andrews, 20. Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 21. Cameron Wright, 22. Marnus Potgieter, 23. Anthony Volmink.
