SCRUM-HALF Owain Leonard will make his first start since September when the Dragons attempt to end their three-year, 31-game away drought in the Guinness PRO14 at Benetton tomorrow (kick-off 5pm).

The 20-year-old will make his sixth regional appearance, his last being off the bench against Enisei-STM in December, and add to the solitary start that he made at Ulster in Belfast in the opening month of the season.

In the absence of the injured Sarel Pretorius and Dan Babos, Leonard gets the nod with Charlie Davies on the bench.

Head coach Bernard Jackman makes three other changes to the XV that lost 29-17 to the Cheetahs at Rodney Parade last time out.

Jared Rosser starts at wing while Hallam Amos is on Commonwealth Games 7s duty, Gerard Ellis comes in for Sam Hobbs at loosehead prop and Rynard Landman slots into the second row with Joe Davies among the replacements.

Wales Under-20s internationals Josh Reynolds, Max Williams and Joe Goodchild, a loosehead, lock/back row and wing respectively, are the players to miss out from the 26-man squad that have travelled to Italy for the double-header with Benetton and Zebre.

Of the selected party just four – hooker Elliot Dee, locks Landman and Cory Hill plus back row forward Lewis Evans – have enjoyed a PRO14 success on the road with the Dragons.

That is naturally because of the youthful nature of the group, with nine players having made their professional debuts this term, while four individuals, former Springboks full-back Zane Kirchner, loosehead Ellis and front rowers Dan Suter and Liam Belcher, are in their first campaigns at Rodney Parade.

The Dragons last won on the road in the PRO14 at Treviso on March 28, 2015 when tries from Jonathan Evans, Hallam Amos and two from Tom Prydie earned 32-17 win and a first away bonus-point success since 2004.

That was a third away triumph of the season in the league for Lyn Jones’ side after upsetting Cardiff Blues and Leinster on their own turf.

The Dragons are on a nightmare run of losses in Cork, Galway, Dublin, Glasgow, Llanelli, Edinburgh, Swansea, Belfast, Treviso, Limerick, Cardiff, Parma, Belfast, Treviso, Llanelli, Swansea, Dublin, Cardiff, Cork, Galway, Glasgow, Parma, Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Belfast, Cardiff, Swansea, Cork, Dublin, Llanelli and Port Elizabeth.

However, since the win in Treviso three years ago they have at least enjoyed wins on the road against Pau, Gloucester and Enisei-STM in the Challenge Cup.

Tomorrow’s hosts sit just a place above the Dragons in Conference B but enjoy a whopping 28-point lead and triumphed 18-15 when the sides met at Rodney Parade.

Benetton have a record of nine wins and nine defeats from their 18 games and select Italy fly-half Tommaso Allan ahead of influential New Zealander Marty Banks, who is among the replacements.

Benetton: J Hayward, L Sperandio, T Benvenuti, A Sgarbi (captain), M Ioane, T Allan, T Tebaldi, F Zani, T Baravalle, S Ferrari, F Ruzza, M Lazzaroni, M Barbini, A Steyn, R Barbieri. Replacements: H Faiva, C Traore, T Pasquali, A Zanni, S Negri, N Manu, T Iannone, M Banks.

Dragons: Z Kirchner, A Hewitt, S Beard, C Edwards, J Rosser, A Robson, O Leonard, G Ellis, E Dee, L Fairbrother, C Hill (captain), R Landman, H Keddie, A Wainwright, L Evans. Replacements: L Belcher, L Garrett, D Suter, J Davies, T Basham, C Davies, A Warren, R Dyer.

Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)