FLANKER Ollie Griffiths will make his first Newport Gwent Dragons start in Sunday’s Guinness Pro12 clash with Ulster at Rodney Parade.

The 20-year-old openside from Newbridge has been tipped for a bright future after being the standout player in last season’s Wales Under-20s side and starring when captaining Newport in the Principality Premiership, becoming the youngest skipper in the Black and Ambers’ rich history.

He has had to be content with 10 cameos off the bench so far but will wear 7 against the Irish province this weekend after in-form Nic Cudd failed to overcome a bang suffered in last weekend’s 25-15 loss to the Scarlets in Llanelli.

Tighthead Shaun Knight makes his first start since the opening round at Connacht with Brok Harris dropping down to the bench while there are recalls for scrum-half Sarel Pretorius, full-back Carl Meyer and lock Cory Hill.

Ulster include South African ace Ruan Pienaar and Ireland great Rory Best on their bench after their World Cup commitments.

Dragons: C Meyer, A Hewitt, A Hughes, A Warren, N Scott, D Jones, S Pretorius, B Stankovich, E Dee, S Knight, C Hill, R Landman (captain), E Jackson, O Griffiths, T Faletau. Replacements: R Buckley, P Price, B Harris, M Screech, L Evans, C Davies, J Tovey, R Wardle.

Ulster: P Nelson, R Scholes, D Cave, S McCloskey, S Arnold, P Jackson, P Marshall, K McCall, R Herring (captain), W Herbst, D Tuohy, F van der Merwe, R Diack, C Henry, C Mulholland. Replacements: R Best, R Lutton, B Ross, L Stevenson, S Reidy, R Pienaar, I Humphreys, C Gilroy.

Referee: Dudley Phillips (Ireland)