Former Australia wing Marika Koroibete will make his Ospreys debut against Dragons, whose speedster Rio Dyer is pushing for a Wales return.

Koroibete starts the United Rugby Championship (URC) derby at Rodney Parade on Friday (19:45 BST) after missing the defeats by Sharks and Lions.

Mark Jones rotated his side in South Africa, giving starts to 27 players, and is excited to field dual-code international Koroibete for the first time.

"We brought him here to be a difference maker for us," said the head coach about the 34-year-old, who spent five seasons with Panasonic Wild Knights in Japan.

"His power, work rate, aerial stuff, physicality, we'd love to see him bring that to the party."

The former Wallaby, who won the last of his 63 caps against New Zealand in 2024, joins forces with Keelan Giles and Tom Rogers in the back three.

Unless there is a switch of wings, Koroibete is set to line up against strong-running Tonga international Anzelo Tuitavuki, who has made an impressive start to life at Dragons.

Dyer will be on the right flank for the hosts and will hope to impress the watching Wales management team.

The 26-year-old is yet to cross for a try this season but is the URC's joint leader for defenders beaten on 11.

Dyer has not featured for Wales since facing South Africa last November and his displays have put him on Steve Tandy's radar ahead of the Nations Championship.

"Rio this pre-season ran the fastest he has in a long while," said Dragons head coach Filo Tiatia.

"He has been a handful with his speed and ability to beat people.

"I'm really happy for Rio with where he is at. He is a totally different man to when I first met him a couple of years ago.

"He is strong in his faith and is seeing things differently. He is in a good space and is travelling light, trying to enjoy what he is doing."

Dragons are one of six unbeaten teams in the URC after drawing at Benetton and beating Scarlets.

Tiatia opts to make three changes with starts for centre Fetuli Paea, scrum-half Che Hope and open-side flanker Harry Beddall.

Co-captain Angus O'Brien is back from a leg injury to cover fly-half and full-back from the bench but flanker or lock Ryan Woodman is ruled out.

The Wales hopeful, who featured in the uncapped win against Barbarians last summer, has suffered a bicep injury that is being assessed amid fears of a lengthy lay-off.

Rodney Parade form is vital for Dragons if they are to succeed with an ambitious target of being in the mix for the play-offs this season.

"It's not rocket science, if you win your home games you climb," said Tiatia, whose side finished 15th in 2025-26 after costly draws.

"It's the energy that Rodney Parade gives these young guys. The exuberance to keep going, the belief, the fight.

"Home games are always important and it's about how you take the opportunities and create them.

"If you take opportunities, you then turn the close draws from last season into wins."

Ospreys are braced for a physical challenge and select an imposing back row of Liam Wright, Ross Moriarty and Morgan Morris, with Morgan Morse to come off the bench.

While Tiatia has benefited from a steady summer at Dragons, Ospreys boss Jones admits that he is still working out his best combinations after his side claimed one bonus point from two games in South Africa.

"At certain times of the year we are going to pick consistently and guys are going to work out who's number one in their position, who's number two," said the former Wales wing.

"We're going to need to win games and we're going to pick our best team as often as we can, but we've got to work out who it is first. I'm probably not 100% sure in some positions."

Ospreys are counting down to their return to Swansea and a revamped St Helen's - which is set to host the return fixture with Dragons on Saturday, 24 October.

First they must cope with the raucous atmosphere under Friday night lights at Rodney Parade, where they have not won since September 2021.

"We had a draw there last year and previous to that we've had some narrow losses. It's always been a tough hunting ground," admitted Jones.

"You can paraphrase Morgan Morris on this, he says he is preparing to be abused for 80 minutes."

Dragons: Anderson; Dyer, Paea, Owen, Tuitavuki; de Beer, Hope; Martinez, Dee, Hunt, S Davies, Carter (capt), Lewis-Hughes, Beddall, Keddie.

Replacements: Coghlan, R Jones, Coleman, Langton-Cryer, Young, R Williams, O'Brien, Inisi.

Ospreys: Rogers; Koroibete, Boshoff, K Williams, Giles; Edwards, Hardy; G Thomas, Parry (capt), Botha, R Davies, Smith, Wright, Moriarty, Morris.

Replacements: Daniel, Thomas, Henry, L Jones, Morse, Morgan-Williams, Creighton, Foketi.

Assistant referees: Ben Whitehouse (Wales), Amber Stamp-Dunstan (Wales)