Internationals return to boost Welsh regions for crunch United Rugby Championship derbies
Dragons flyer Rio Dyer.
There are two Welsh derbies scheduled to take place on Tuesday with Cardiff hosting the Dragons at the Arms Park while the Scarlets and Ospreys do battle at Parc y Scarlets.
Cardiff v Dragons
James Botham has handed Cardiff a Boxing Day boost as the Blue and Blacks make two changes to face the Dragons in this Round eight United Rugby Championship clash.
The Wales international has been out of action since suffering a hamstring injury in pre-season but has been given the all clear for the Arms Park showdown.
Botham pulls on the number seven jersey, alongside in-form youngsters Alex Mann and Mackenzie Martin in the back-row.
The only other change to the starting XV, that narrowly lost out to Bath in a 10-try Champions Cup thriller a week ago, sees Rhys Carre come in for Corey Domachowski, who is named on the bench.
With Botham back in action, 19-year-old Lucas de la Rua drops to the bench, where he is joined by three Welsh internationals in Domachowski, Seb Davies and Willis Halaholo.
Meanwhile, the Dragons have been boosted by the return of Wales international duo Rio Dyer and Aaron Wainwright.
Dyer and Wainwright are part of seven changes made by head coach Dai Flanagan from the side who were narrowly defeated by Pau last weekend.
Scrum-half Rhodri Williams returns – paired with Cai Evans at half-back – while Dyer is recalled out wide.
A new-look front-row sees props Rhodri Jones and Lloyd Fairbrother pack down either side of hooker Bradley Roberts. Lock George Nott returns to partner Joe Davies in the second-row.
Wainwright is named at number eight with Taine Basham and Harri Keddie completing the back-row.
Prop Leon Brown and back-row Dan Lydiate are also back to be named among the replacements.
Cardiff: 15 Cam Winnett, 14 Josh Adams, 13 Rey Lee-Lo, 12 Ben Thomas, 11 Mason Grady, 10 Tinus de Beer, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Mackenzie Martin, 7 James Botham, 6 Alex Mann, 5 Teddy Williams, 4 Rory Thornton, 3 Keiron Assiratti, 2 Liam Belcher, 1 Rhys Carre
Replacements: 16 Evan Lloyd, 17 Corey Domachowski, 18 Rhys Litterick, 19 Seb Davies, 20 Lucas de la Rua, 21 Ellis Bevan, 22 Willis Halaholo, 23 Gabriel Hamer-Webb
Dragons: 15 Jordan Williams, 14 Rio Dyer, 13 Steff Hughes (c), 12 Aneurin Owen, 11 Ashton Hewitt, 10 Cai Evans, 9 Rhodri Williams, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Taine Basham, 6 Harri Keddie, 5 George Nott, 4 Joe Davies, 3 Lloyd Fairbrother, 2 Bradley Roberts, 1 Rhodri Jones
Replacements: 16 James Benjamin, 17 Aki Seiuli, 18 Leon Brown, 19 Sean Lonsdale, 20 Dan Lydiate, 21 Dane Blacker, 22 Will Reed, 23 Jared Rosser
Venue: Cardiff Arms Park
Kick-off: 15:00
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Assistant Referees: Ben Breakspear (Wales), Ben Connor (Wales)
TMO: Wayne Davies (Wales)
Scarlets v Ospreys
Scarlets number eight and club captain Josh Macleod makes his first appearance of the season alongside Teddy Leatherbarrow and Sam Lousi in the loose trio with Jac Price and Alex Craig in the second-row.
At the coalface, props Sam Wainwright and Kemsley Mathias are joined by hooker Ryan Elias.
Ioan Lloyd starts at full-back with wings Tom Rogers and Ryan Conbeer making up the back-three. Johnny Williams and Joe Roberts partner in the midfield while Wales star Sam Costelow and Gareth Davies as the half-backs.
On the pine, Shaun Evans, Wyn Jones and Joe Jones are front-row options with Morgan Jones and Ben Williams the other forward replacements.
Veteran Jonathan Davies is named on the bench alongside scrum-half Kieran Hardy and Ioan Nicholas.
For Ospreys, Adam Beard captains the side from the second-row alongside James Fender in front of a loose trio made up of flanks Harri Deaves and Rhys Davies whilst Morgan Morris starts at number eight. Dewi Lake starts at hooker with Tom Botha and Gareth Thomas completing the pack.
In the half-backs, scrum-half Reuben Morgan-Williams pairs up with Owen Williams with veteran George North and Owen Watkin in the centres. Jack Welsh starts at full-back with Mat Protheroe and Keelan Giles on the wings.
Hooker Sam Parry alongside props Garyn Phillips and Ben Warren make up the front-row substitutes with Morgan Morse and Tristan Davies the other forward options.
Luke Davies, Dan Edwards and Luke Morgan round out the matchday 23.
Scarlets: 15 Ioan Lloyd, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Joe Roberts, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Ryan Conbeer, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Josh Macleod (c), 7 Teddy Leatherbarrow, 6 Sam Lousi, 5 Jac Price, 4 Alex Craig, 3 Sam Wainwright, 2 Ryan Elias, 1 Kemsley Mathias
Replacements: 16 Shaun Evans, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Joe Jones, 19 Morgan Jones, 20 Ben Williams, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Jonathan Davies, 23 Ioan Nicholas
Ospreys: 15 Jack Walsh, 14 Mat Protheroe, 13 George North, 12 Owen Watkin, 11 Keelan Giles, 10 Owen Williams, 9 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 8 Morgan Morris, 7 Harri Deaves, 6 Rhys Davies, 5 Adam Beard (c), 4 James Fender, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Dewi Lake, 1 Gareth Thomas
Replacements: 16 Sam Parry, 17 Garyn Phillips, 18 Ben Warren, 19 Morgan Morse, 20 Tristan Davies, 21 Luke Davies, 22 Dan Edwards, 23 Luke Morgan
Venue: Parc y Scarlets
Kick-off: 17:15
Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)
Assistant Referees: Adam Jones (Wales), Gwyn Morris (Wales)
TMO: Jon Mason (Wales)