THE Dragons will set a new regional record if eight players take to the field for Wales against Canada on Saturday.

Wayne Pivac has named six Rodney Parade players in his starting line-up for the clash at Principality Stadium – wing Jonah Holmes, hooker Elliot Dee, locks Ben Carter and Will Rowlands and back row forwards Aaron Wainwright and Ross Moriarty.

That will match the Dragons contingent from the 2005 win against Italy in Rome on the way to a Grand Slam when wing Hal Luscombe and Michael Owen started with Kevin Morgan, Ceri Sweeney, Gareth Cooper and Ian Gough among the replacements.

That tally matched the November, 2004 encounter with Japan in Cardiff when Luscombe, Sweeney, Cooper, Owen and Morgan were joined in the 23 by hooker Steve Jones.

Two weeks before that Luscombe, Charteris, Owen, Sweeney, Cooper and Jones played in the 66-7 success against Romania.

However, the Dragons are likely to set a new high this weekend with tighthead Leon Brown and Taine Basham likely to come off the bench to take the tally to eight.

The Dragons had six players in the matchday squad for the 2018 clash against Tonga in Cardiff but Moriarty was an unused replacement and didn’t join Dee, Brown, Wainwright, Tyler Morgan and Cory Hill on the field.