NIC Cudd knows he needs to be ready for a battle royal between the scavengers in the two packs when Newport Gwent Dragons seek revenge against Cardiff Blues on Sunday (2.30pm).

Openside Cudd is the go-to man for the Dragons when it comes to foraging for ball at the breakdown, but the flanker is set to have his work cut out in the Welsh capital.

Blues chief Danny Wilson picked four number sevens for his side’s defeat of the Scarlets a fortnight ago and starts with three in the back row for the visit of the Dragons.

Josh Navidi is the seven from the Scarlets victory to miss out this time as he drops to the bench to accommodate New Zealand lock Jarrad Hoeata.

But add Blues skipper Gethin Jenkins’ breakdown prowess to that of Sam Warburton, Ellis Jenkins and Josh Turnbull and it could be a difficult afternoon at the coalface for Cudd and his teammates.

“They’ve been playing some good stuff in the second half of the season so it’s going to be a tough game,” said West Walian Cudd.

“The whole back row are sevens and Josh (Turnbull) can play seven but is playing in the second row.

“You’ve got Gethin Jenkins who is good over the ball as well so they’ve got a few people who are good jackalers.

“As a team, we are aware that they’ve got a lot of threats in that area, so we will have to be on our game and be prepared for their contact area threats.”

Confidence is high among the Dragons after that stunning victory over Gloucester which booked a European Challenge Cup semi-final in Montpellier a week tomorrow.

And not only are the Dragons’ personnel playing for their places against the French club, they will also want to banish the memories of their 21-20 loss to the Blues in late December.

For Taulupe Faletau, outstanding again at Gloucester, the Arms Park clash is set to be his penultimate Welsh derby as a Dragons player.

And Cudd is determined to make the most of playing alongside arguably the best number-eight in the world before Faletau joins Bath this summer.

“Toby’s always great for us,” added Cudd. “I can’t remember him ever having a bad game for us, and that says it all really.

“He’s a world-class player and he’s able to do that on a consistent basis for us as well.

“He’s a really good professional and he goes out there and gives 100 per cent every time.

“He just really enjoys playing and wants to do as well as he can for us until he moves on at the end of the season.

“You learn things off each other and if he has the ball you’re quite sure he’s going to get over the gainline.”

The Dragons go into the Guinness Pro12 encounter looking to end a run of seven straight league defeats.