In-form Aaron Wainwright leads the Dragons when they face the Ospreys in the Rainbow Cup at Rodney Parade on Sunday (1pm).
The Wales international has been consistently strong for the Gwent outfit in recent weeks, standing out against the Scarlets and backing up that display with a powerful effort against Cardiff Blues.
Wales head coach Wayne Pivac would have been impressed by his efforts.
Now Wainwright has the chance to show he can thrive with extra responsibility.
He lines up in a back-row that bristles with potential, featuring Ollie Griffiths at openside and Dan Baker at No. 8.
Like his captain this weekend, serial man-of-the-match winner Griffiths will also be looking to catch the eye, embarking as he is on yet another comeback. When he plays, the warrior from Newbridge can be devastating, but injuries seem to follow him around.
Ben Carter starts at lock for the Dragons and Greg Bateman lines up at prop.
Behind, Jack Dixon returns to partner Aneurin Owen in midfield while Josh Lewis is the final change at full back.
Despite their loss to the Blues last time out, the Dragons have been quietly impressive in the Welsh derbies and may fancy their chances this weekend.
The Ospreys make eight changes from the side that fell 22-6 to the Scarlets in Llanelli, with centre Kieran Williams among those returning.
Williams sat out the disappointing derby defeat last weekend.
The Ospreys missed his direct running and ability to offer go-forward.
He comes back into the side along with Luke Morgan, Dewi Cross and Reuben Morgan-Williams behind.
Up front, Sam Parry starts at hooker, Bradley Davies resumes at lock and Morgan Morris features at No. 8, with Ethan Roots moving back to blindside.
Two new faces are on the bench.
On-loan Todd Gleave covers the hooking position, while Max Nagy, who started life with Buckingham RFC before pitching up with Swansea University and Swansea RFC, is a back-three man.
Both players will make debuts if they take the field.
Dragons : J. Lewis; J. Holmes, J. Dixon, A. Owen, R. Dyer; S. Davies, G. Bertranou; G. Bateman, T. Davies, L. Brown, J. Davies, B. Carter, A. Wainwright (capt), O. Griffiths, D. Baker
Reps : R. Hibbard, J. Reynolds, C. Coleman, J. Maksymiw, H. Taylor, T. Basham, D. Babos, I. Davies
Ospreys : D. Evans; L. Morgan, O. Watkin, K. Williams, D. Cross; L. Price, R. Morgan-Williams; G. Thomas, S. Parry, T. Botha, B. Davies, A. W. Jones, E. Roots, J. Tipuric (capt), M. Morris.
Reps: T. Gleave, N. Smith, R. Henry, R. Davies, W. Griffiths, M. Aubrey, J. Hawkins, M. Nagy.
