The Dragons have been forced into shoehorning two players into unfamiliar positions after three festive derbies and injuries in key areas have taken their toll.
Ahead of their crunch European Challenge Cup clash with Castres in France, the region have been hit with not just one positional crisis, but two - loosehead prop and full-back.
Lloyd Fairbrother, a tight-head, will shift across to cover the former with Brok Harris out through suspension - meaning he'll make his first appearance in the number one jersey since 2015.
At full-back, injuries to Jordan Williams and Will Talbot-Davies have left the Dragons scratching around for a 15 - with fly-half Jacob Botica called upon to make his first start for the region.
Elsewhere, Dean Ryan makes five changes to the side that saw off the Ospreys in a dramatic derby at Rodney Parade last weekend.
Wales international Cory Hill has overcome illness to start in the back-row.
Adam Warren moves into midfield, while Tavis Knoyle is preferred at scrum-half.
Forwards Coach Ceri Jones said: “We are top of the pool, but we have two huge games coming up. It’s a very important couple of weeks for us.
“It is a big game in Castres, a huge challenge, but one we think we can get something from.
“We want to keep the momentum going from the festive derby games. We have two European games and then a break for the boys or, for some of them, time away in international camp.
“We’ve built a positive environment and the players are buying into that,” he added.
“It’s exciting for them to be challenging on more than one front this season.
“Over the festive period we showed we can be competitive. We know we’ve got huge strides to make yet, we’re not the finished article, but we are moving forward and this is another chance to show that.”
Castres: J Dumora; F Nakosi, T Combezou, Y David, T Paris; T Fortunel, R Kockott; M Tierney, J Jenneker, W Hounkpatin, L Jacquet, V Moreaux, B Delaporte (captain), A Tulou, A Jelonch.
Replacements: K Firmin, W de Benedittis, K Wihongi, C Samson, C Gerondeau, L Radosavljevic, F Vialelle, M Laveau.
Dragons: J Botica; J Rosser, A Warren, T Griffiths, R Dyer; S Davies, T Knoyle, L Fairbrother, E Dee, L Brown, J Davies, M Screech, C Hill (captain), T Basham, R Moriarty.
Replacements: E Shipp, J Reynolds, C Coleman, M Williams, H Keddie, R Williams, A Robson, C Penny.
Referee: JP Doyle (England)
