NEWPORT Gwent Dragons will attempt to fill the void left by Wales superstar Taulupe Faletau by moving captain Lewis Evans back to number eight.

The 29-year-old will lead out the Dragons in this evening’s first pre-season fixture against Cardiff Blues at Rodney Parade (kick-off 7.30pm), a game against fierce rivals to mark his and Ashley Smith’s beneficiary year.

Versatile Evans can play across the back row but has played most of his rugby at blindside in recent years and wore 8 on his back just three times last season.

But with Lions ace Faletau now with Bath, the skipper looks set to be a more regular fixture at the base of the scrum.

“When Toby was available you’d pick him but even though Lewis has moved between 6, 7 and 8, I think 8 is his position,” said head coach Kingsley Jones, himself a former Wales back row forward.

“He weighs about 112kg at the moment, so isn’t small, and he has all the skills required to play number eight; he is good in the back field under the high ball and has great game understanding.

“It’s credit to Lewis that he has played across the back row for the Dragons and that shows his rugby ability but he will play a lot at 8 this season.

“The challenge will be to rotate and keep players fresh and we have options with Ed Jackson and Harrison Keddie while Nick Crosswell, James Thomas and Ollie Griffiths are all versatile.

“Lewis is captain but we have good vice-captains in Crosswell and ‘TRT’ (hooker Rhys Thomas), so he isn’t going to play every game and knows he has to perform.”

The Dragons have lost their megastar in Faletau and have brought in eight players – wing/centre Pat Howard, centre Sam Beard, fly-half/full-back Nick Macleod, props Craig Mitchell, Sam Hobbs and Tom Davies, hooker Darran Harris, lock Ashley Sweet – who may not be stellar signings but Jones feels will add to the squad.

“I’m really pleased with the recruits and they contribution that they’ve already made,” said the head coach. “We have signed some more experience and they have brought plenty to the group off the field.

“We are trying to breed a culture of there being 30 first-choice players and I want to be able to rotate the squad this season.

“With the schedule we’ve got you can’t expect Brok Harris and Adam Warren to play 80 minutes every week.

“We want to create competition through rotation, although that comes with the challenge of combinations getting used to playing with each other.”

Team news for the Cardiff Blues game on page **