Hewitt wings back in for Zebre battle

Ashton Hewitt makes his first appearance of the season as Dragons RFC face Zebre Parma in the BKT United Rugby Championship at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi on Friday (kick-off 7.35pm).

Wing Hewitt – joint second top try scorer in the club’s history - will represent the Men of Gwent for the first time since Boxing Day 2023 after recovering from a serious knee injury.

Boss Filo Tiatia makes a total of six changes for the Round 12 clash in Parma with centre Joe Westwood and fly half Will Reed also given recalls. Lloyd Evans misses the game through injury.

Prop Rhodri Jones makes his first start since October and is joined up front by the returning hooker Brodie Coghlan. The final change is a return for Taine Basham in the back row.

Lock Steve Cummins makes his comeback among the replacements while there could also be a debut for Wales Under-20s ace Harri Ford from the bench.

Tiatia said: “Zebre are a good side. They are heading in the right direction in terms of performances, with recent wins over Ulster and Edinburgh.

“They will be challenging on their home patch. But we are looking forward to it and playing against a side that like to release and play with the ball. We’ve got to try and stop them.

“They are the highest mauling team in the competition, from all areas of the field, and they like to play with momentum. They have players, like Fetuli Paea and Gonzalo Garcia, who get them momentum and are threats.

“We know what their strengths are. It’s going to be a good test for us.

On Hewitt’s return, Tiatia added: “He has been out for over a year and, learning from the past, what used to happen was that they’d get the opportunity to put the jersey on and get fit.

“You need to earn the jersey and be fully fit, so we asked Ashton to play for Newport and be the best player he could be and keep improving. He had two outings and played pretty well in both games, so gets an opportunity.

“Ashton is powerful athlete who is quick, communicates really well, brings lots of exuberance, scores a lot of tries, can beat people one on one, so it’s just about building up his confidence and he will put out his best.”

Dragons RFC: Huw Anderson (Caerphilly RFC), Rio Dyer (Risca RFC, Pill Harriers, Newport High School Old Boys), Joe Westwood (Blackwood RFC), Aneurin Owen (CAPT)(Newport High School Old Boys), Ashton Hewitt (Pill Harriers RFC), Will Reed (Cwmbran RFC), Dane Blacker (Ynysybwl RFC); Rhodri Jones (Machynlleth RFC), Brodie Coghlan (Newport High School Old Boys), Chris Coleman (Garndiffaith RFC), Joe Davies (Caldicot RFC), George Nott (Chester RUFC), Ryan Woodman (Caldicot RFC), Taine Basham (Talywain RFC), Shane Lewis-Hughes (Ferndale RFC)

Replacements: James Benjamin (Whitehead RFC), Dylan Kelleher-Griffiths (St Peters RFC), Paula Latu (Woodlands), Steve Cummins (Eastwood Rugby Club), Barny Langton-Cryer (Cowbridge RFC), Che Hope (Blackwood RFC), Harri Ford (Senghenydd RFC), Scott Williams (Castell Newydd Emlyn)

Unavailable (16): Dmitri Arhip (knee) (Dinamo Bucharest), Oli Burrows (shoulder) (Neath Athletic), Ben Carter (knee) (Caldicot RFC), Cai Evans (leg) (Cowbridge RFC), Lloyd Evans (leg) (Cheltenham Tigers), Solomone Funaki (shoulder) ((Havelu Bulldogs), Harri Keddie (groin) (Caerleon RFC), Dan Lydiate (Rhayader RFC) Rodrigo Martinez (knee) (Los Tordos Rugby Club), Angus O’Brien (hand) (Caerleon RFC), Josh Reynolds (shoulder) (Newport High School Old Boys), Ewan Rosser (leg) (Pontypool United), Matthew Screech (knock) (Porth Harlequins), Luke Yendle (knee) (Caerphilly RFC), Jordan Williams (leg) (New Docks Stars RFC)

International duty (3): Elliot Dee (Newbridge RFC), Aaron Wainwright (Whitehead RFC), Rhodri Williams (Ammanford RFC)