Cardiff look to continue Dragons derby dominance

Cardiff aim to continue their 11 years of dominance over a resurgent Dragons in the east Wales derby on Friday.

The Blue and Blacks have enjoyed 21 straight league wins over their rivals, with their previous defeat in this fixture in this competition coming on 26 December 2014.

But Dragons did taste victory over Cardiff in a Challenge Cup quarter-final in April 2015 with Cardiff winning the next 20 matches in all tournaments.

Cardiff head into this festive fixture off the back of a 21-17 defeat by Scarlets at Cardiff Arms Park, while Dragons will be buoyed by their 48-28 thrashing of Connacht - their first United Rugby Championship (URC) win in 15 months.

Cardiff say the fixture is sold out.

Both sides have made four starting changes with Wales number eights Taulupe Faletau and Aaron Wainwright preparing to face each other.

Cardiff coach Corniel van Zyl has named the same match-day 23 with prop Rhys Barratt, lock Rory Thornton, flanker Alex Mann and Faletau promoted from the replacements bench.

Dragons boss Filo Tiatia has brought in back-row duo Wainwright and Thomas Young, hooker George Roberts and wing Huw Anderson.

Wainwright and former Cardiff flanker Young start with Harrison Keddie joining Shane Lewis-Hughes on the bench, while Oli Burrows and Jared Rosser are injured.

Cardiff coach Corniel Van Zyl said their winning streak over Dragons was "not something they really focussed on, especially after last week".

"It's just making the crowd and the supporters proud of the performance that we put out, which I do believe we did get right [against Scarlets], but unfortunately it was a frustrating night for all," he said.

"It's just getting back to what we do instead of going down that lane of looking at previous results, it is big, but it's actually irrelevant."

Speaking on Dragons, who now have back back-to-back wins, Van Zyl added: "That comeback against Lyon was massive for them, it gave them a lot of confidence going into the Connacht game which obviously they played well."

Dragons head coach Filo Tiatia said: "We are under no illusion of the challenge in front of us. We understand we haven't beaten Cardiff in a little while, but going to a special place like Arms Park is a great opportunity for us to put our game in place.

"They're tough there, don't get me wrong. They've got the crowd, we're not at home, and that makes it a real challenge.

"Boxing Day derbies are very special. The players who get picked will be representing everyone at the club and our supporters as well.

"The boys are still a little bit banged up from Connacht, but we're being really clear on how we want to play and just building on what we've started."

Cardiff: Winnett; Adams, Millard, B Thomas, Grady; Sheedy, A Davies; Barratt, Belcher (capt), Sebastian, McNally, Thornton, Mann, D Thomas, Faletau.

Replacements: E Lloyd, Southworth, S Wainwright, Nott, Lawrence, Botham, Mulder, Beetham.

Dragons: O'Brien (co-capt); Anderson, Inisi, Owen, Dyer; de Beer, Hope; Martinez, Roberts, Hunt, Douglas, Carter (co-capt), Woodman, Young, Wainwright.

Replacements: Scarfe, W Jones, Dlamini, Screech, Keddie, Lewis-Hughes, R Williams, Richards.

Referee: Adam Jones (WRU)

Assistants: Ben Connor (WRU), Amber Stamp-Dunstan (WRU)

TMO: Aled Griffiths (WRU).