Dragons lock Ben Carter has recovered from an ankle injury just in time for Warren Gatland's Six Nations squad announcement.
Carter has been named among the replacements for the Dragons' must win Challenge Cup clash with Pau in France.
The 21-year-old was a regular in the Wales squad under Wayne Pivac but it remains to be seen whether returning head coach Gatland rates him as highly.
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Carter, who has won nine caps for Wales, is highly regarded in Welsh rugby circles but faces stiff competition from the likes of Alun Wyn Jones, Adam Beard, Rhys Davies, Dafydd Jenkins, and Christ Tshiunza for a place in the squad.
The Dragons have not won since October and head coach Dai Flanagan has made four changes to the side beaten by the Bulls last Friday night. Wales star Taine Basham is back in the starting XV, along with fly-half Will Reed, wing Ashton Hewitt and prop Rob Evans with Ollie Griffiths moving to No 8.
Aaron Wainwright, Jack Dixon, Josh Reynolds, Luke Yendle, Che Hope and JJ Hanrahan come onto the bench. The Dragons need to win in France to stand any chance of qualifying for the knockout stages.
"It's all in our hands over the next two weeks in this competition and we need good performances if we are to make the knockout stages," said Dragons forwards coach Luke Narraway.
"Any French side you play is usually built on large men in the pack. That will be no different this week.
"We had a taste of that when we played them at home, and we did well in certain aspects up front. Hopefully we can provide a good platform for the boys behind."
Pau: Théo Attissogbe; Vincent Pinto, Yvan Reilhac, Nathan Decron, Daniel Ikpefan; Thibault Debaes, Clovis Lebail (Capt); Siegfried Fisiihoi, Romain Ruffenach, Nicolas Corato, Hugo Auradou, Fabrice Metz, Sacha Zegueur, Thibaut Hamonou, Brent Liufau. Replacements: Youri Delhommel, Ignacio Calles, Siate Tokolahi, Jimi Maximin, Martin Puech, Alexis Levron, Axel Desperes, Mathias Colombet.
Dragons: Jordan Williams; Rio Dyer, Steff Hughes (capt), Max Clark, Ashton Hewitt; Will Reed, Lewis Jones; Rob Evans, Bradley Roberts, Chris Coleman, Joe Davies, George Nott, Sean Lonsdale, Taine Basham, Ollie Griffiths. Replacements: Brodie Coghlan, Josh Reynolds, Luke Yendle, Ben Carter, Aaron Wainwright, Che Hope, JJ Hanrahan, Jack Dixon.
Referee: Eoghan Cross (Ire)
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