It’s round three of Super Rygbi Cymru with two Gwent sides in action on Friday night.
Newport and Pontypool kick off the weekend’s action at 7.30pm with the Black and Ambers welcoming Aberavon while Pooler travel to Cardiff.
Top of the table Ebbw Vale host RGC on Saturday with a 2.30pm kick off.
In total there are 20 Dragons players involved throughout the fixtures in an exciting weekend of rugby which also sees the return of the URC.
Newport will want to win their third game in a row when they face an Aberavon side who lost against Ebbw Vale last time out.
Dragons Brogan Leary (14), Joe Westwood (12), Will Ford (10) and Cerrig Smith (8) all start for the Black and Ambers with Nathan Davies (18), Nick Thomas (19), Tiehi Chatham (20), Oli Woodman (22) and Sam Morgan (23) amongst the replacements.
Newport will be hoping to continue from the performance and result last time out at reigning champions Llandovery and are captained by Hunter Ward in the absence of regular skipper Ben Roach.
Pooler meanwhile head to third-place Cardiff looking to bounce back following defeat last time out.
They include Dragons Scott Crewe (3), Dan Bassett (4) Ryan Jones (7), Tiaan Hall (16), George Tuckley (17) and Carter Pritchard (21) within their side.
Kieran Meek starts at flyhalf while centre Connor Edwards captains the side in the absence of Scott Matthews.
Meanwhile, Ebbw Vale will be hoping to continue their 100 percent record to date at home to RGC on Saturday.
Seren y Gêm against Aberavon, Harry Rees Weldon (14) starts once more, while fellow Dragon Harri Ford makes his Ebbw debut at 10.
Codi Purnell (17), Elliot Beavan (19) and Ryley Fussell (22) are amongst the replacements with all three Dragons youngsters set to make their debut.
It is also a big occasion for Luke Garrett with the prop celebrating his 150th appearance for the club.
Newport: Carwyn Penny; Brogan Leary, Chay Foster-Smith, Joe Westwood, Fin Baker; Will Ford, Lucus Welch; Ed Thompson, Wade Langley, Ollie Drake, Ethan Phillips, Callum Bradburry, Hunter Ward (c), Josh Reid, Cerrig Smith.
Replacements: Henry Palmer, Tom Workman, Nathan Davies, Nick Thomas, Tiehi Chatham, Dafydd Buckland, Oli Woodman, Sam Morgan.
Pontypool: Carrick McDonough; Ioan Duggan, Joel Mahoney, Connor Edwards (c), Marcus Jones; Kieran Meek, Ellis Lewis; Tom Sims, Rhys Williams, Scott Crewe, Dan Bassett, Liam Antrobus, Dan Hill, Ryan Jones, Ben Williams.
Replacements: Tiaan Hall, George Tuckley, Owen Popple, Lance Randall, Luke Daniel, Carter Pritchard, Ellis Davies, Mike Herbert.
Ebbw Vale: Morgan Rees; Harry Rees-Weldon, Ethan Phillips (c), Cam Davies, Dafydd Thomas; Harri Ford, Gruff Tough; Luke Garrett, Ieuan Morris, Adam Williams, Dylan Bartlett, Curtis Gregory, Alfred Bateman Lloyd, Joe Rees-Weldon, Ryan Jenkins.
Replacements: Liam Lewis, Codi Purnell, Morgan Bosanko, Elliot Beavan, Ben Main, Rory Harries, Ryley Fussell, Dom Franchi.
