Centre Adam Warren will make his 100th appearance for Dragons as the Men of Gwent face Edinburgh Rugby in the Guinness PRO14 at BT Murrayfield on Friday evening (kick-off 7.35pm).
Warren - who made his regional debut for Dragons in September 2015 - will become a centurion when he runs out for the league encounter in the Scottish capital.
Dragons make one change for the Round 6 away fixture as Director of Dragons Rugby, Dean Ryan, recalls centre Jack Dixon to partner Warren in midfield.
And Ryan is aware of the size of the challenge his side will face against Richard Cockerill’s Edinburgh, who are set to be boosted by the return of several Scotland internationals.
“Edinburgh are a very good side. I know Richard (Cockerill) well and he has done a great job coming into the Guinness PRO14 and bringing some of his experiences,” said Ryan.
“They are a powerful, well-organised, good field position side.
“Edinburgh were contenders in the Champions Cup last year and are starting to make a mark in the PRO14. It will be a challenge for us, but we are in a good space.
“Friday will be a test of us physically, because having spent years coaching against Richard, I know that Edinburgh will come with a power and field-position game and will wait for us to do something silly. We’ve got to work hard to be robust enough to stand up to that."
On Warren’s memorable milestone, Ryan added: “Adam is quiet and you could come into the place and miss him, until you see him play. “He doesn’t get much wrong and that’s how you get to play 100 games.
“Adam is one of those players who you have got to watch the footage to understand how well he plays.
“You could easily pay your money and not really understand that because he might not have flashy moments or things that are glaringly obvious.
“But when you watch the footage and the amount of things that he gets right, and how he covers other people, that’s testimony to the person he is and he is a great character.”
Dragons (v Edinburgh Rugby): Jordan Williams, Owen Jenkins, Adam Warren, Jack Dixon, Ashton Hewitt, Sam Davies, Rhodri Williams (c); Brok Harris, Richard Hibbard, Leon Brown, Joe Davies, Matthew Screech, Huw Taylor, Taine Basham, Harrison Keddie
Replacements: Ellis Shipp, Josh Reynolds, Lloyd Fairbrother, Max Williams, James Benjamin, Luke Baldwin, Arwel Robson, Tyler Morgan
Edinburgh: Blair Kinghorn, Eroni Sau, Mark Bennett, Matt Scott, Duhan van der Merwe, Simon Hickey, Henry Pyrgos (c); Pierre Schoeman, Mike Willemse, Pietro Ceccarelli, Lewis Carmichael, Ben Toolis, John Barclay, Luke Crosbie, Magnus Bradbury
Replacements: Cameron Fenton, Rory Sutherland, Simon Berghan, Grant Gilchrist, Jamie Ritchie, Charlie Shiel, Jaco van der Walt, George Taylor
Edinburgh were contenders in the Champions Cup last year and are starting to make a mark in the PRO14. It will be a challenge for us, but we are in a good space...
