ROSS Moriarty will make his Dragons debut from number eight for tomorrow’s Guinness PRO14 clash with Southern Kings (kick-off 3pm) but fly-half Gavin Henson is out injured.

Strong-running Wales and Lions back row forward Moriarty was suspended for last week’s 21-17 loss to Benetton after being sent off against Argentina in June.

The marquee summer signing from Gloucester comes straight into the XV to join forces with openside Ollie Griffiths and blindside Aaron Wainwright.

Moriarty is one of five changes to the side that spluttered on opening weekend with playmaker Henson, who earned the nod against Benetton thanks to an impressive cameo in the final friendly against Gloucester, out with the knee problem that hindered his pre-season.

His absence means that Josh Lewis, a summer recruit from Bath, makes his full debut after coming off the bench last weekend with Arwel Robson, back from an ankle injury, his back-up.

Head coach Bernard Jackman also rings the changes in his tight five with loosehead Brok Harris, hooker Elliot Dee and lock Matthew Screech starting and Ryan Bevington, Richard Hibbard and Brandon Nansen taking their spots on the bench.

The Dragons intend to take a leaf out of Benetton’s book and make it a tussle in the tight rather than playing into the Kings’ hands as they did when drubbed 45-13 in Port Elizabeth in March.

“We can’t make it loose,” said Jackman. “If you look at how Benetton played against us, it was a very slow-paced game. Our GPS stats were incredibly low because we didn’t have good discipline.

“They were able to make it a set-piece game and they had lots of injuries in their front-row so it was slow.

“To be honest we have got to have a similar mindset this week in making it a set-piece game, go after them at scrum, line-out, maul and get that sorted out.

“It was an area of the game where it wasn’t where we wanted it to be last weekend. We have worked at fixing that.

“If you look at how we beat them at home last year, you have got to do a job on them up front because most of their dangermen are out wide and if the game becomes loose that’s where they really get momentum.”

The Kings make four changes from their opening weekend loss at Zebre but former Dragons scrum-half Sarel Pretorius was not selected in the touring party.

The Dragons have not triumphed in the PRO14 since hosting the Kings last September 17 games ago while their hammering in Port Elizabeth – the South Africans’ only win of the season – was a regional low.

“We expect a much-improved Dragons side this weekend in front of their home crowd," said Kings coach Deon Davids.

"We can expect a very physical battle up front. They have some evasive and quick outside backs."

Dragons: J Williams, D Howells, T Morgan, J Dixon, H Amos, J Lewis, R Williams, B Harris, E Dee, L Brown, M Screech, C Hill, A Wainwright, O Griffiths, R Moriarty. Replacements: R Hibbard, R Bevington, L Fairbrother, B Nansen, H Taylor, T Knoyle, A Robson, A Warren.

Kings: Y Penxe, M Makase, H Klassen, B Klassen, B Basson, M Banda, R van Rooyen, J Forwood, M Willemse (captain), L Pupuma, S Oelofse, B De Wee, S De Wit, M Burger, A Ntsila. Replacements: A Van Rooyen, S Ferreira, L Mguca, J-C Astle, R Lerm, G Masimla, M Du Toit, U Beyers.

Referee: Frank Murphy (Ireland)