DRAGONS duo Cory Hill and Elliot Dee have been selected for Wales’ Six Nations opener against Scotland in Cardiff.

Lock Hill will win his 11th cap alongside captain Alun Wyn Jones in the second row at Principality Stadium (kick-off 2.15pm) while hooker Dee is among the replacements as back-up to Lions ace Ken Owens.

There is no place in the matchday squad for wing Hallam Amos, who had an impressive autumn but hasn’t featured since Boxing Day because of an ankle strain.

Dragons skipper Hill featured in all four autumn Tests and makes his first Six Nations start after coming off the bench against Italy and England last year.

Livewire hooker Dee gets the nod ahead of Scott Baldwin to back-up Owens after winning his first cap against Georgia last November then featuring again off the bench versus South Africa.

Head coach Warren Gatland has handed a debut to in-form Worcester wing Josh Adams while Rhys Patchell gets the nod ahead of Gareth Anscombe at fly-half.

Dragons-bound Ross Moriarty starts at number eight with Aaron Shingler and Josh Navidi joining him in the back row, Justin Tipuric having to settle for a place on the bench.

“The first-up game against Scotland this weekend is really important for us and this is a great chance for this group of players to get us off to a good start” said Gatland.

“We have been watching Josh (Adams) closely, he is top try scorer in the English Premiership and has been going well and we are excited for him.

“Both Rhys (Patchell) and Gareth (Anscombe) have been training really well over the last couple of weeks. It was a tough call between them, Rhys has started most of his games for the Scarlets at ten, we are really happy with his form and the combination with Gareth at nine.

“We know what a quality player Ross is, it's great he is back and available and we are looking forward to seeing his explosive ball carrying on Saturday.

“For this opening game, we looked at a lot of combinations, especially the front-row. It is exciting to see Samson back playing well and the familiarity of the Scarlets front-row will be important.”

WALES TEAM TO PLAY SCOTLAND

Leigh Halfpenny (Scarlets) (74 Caps)

Josh Adams (Worcester) (*UNCAPPED)

Scott Williams (Scarlets) (51 Caps)

Hadleigh Parkes (Scarlets) (1 Cap)

Steff Evans (Scarlets) (5 Caps)

Rhys Patchell (Scarlets) (5 Caps)

Gareth Davies (Scarlets) (27 Caps)

Rob Evans (Scarlets) (20 Caps)

Ken Owens (Scarlets) (52 Caps)

Samson Lee (Scarlets) (34 Caps)

Cory Hill (Dragons) (10 Caps)

Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys) (113 Caps) CAPT

Aaron Shingler (Scarlets) (13 Caps)

Josh Navidi (Cardiff Blues) (7 Caps)

Ross Moriarty (Gloucester) (17 Caps)

Replacements:

Elliot Dee (Dragons) (2 Caps)

Wyn Jones (Scarlets) (5 Caps)

Tomas Francis (Exeter Chiefs) (26 Caps)

Bradley Davies (Ospreys) (57 Caps)

Justin Tipuric (Ospreys)  (52 Caps)

Aled Davies (Scarlets) (5 Caps)

Gareth Anscombe (Cardiff Blues) (11 Caps)

Owen Watkin (Ospreys) (2 Caps)