Netani Talei insists it will be all business as he dons the Newport Gwent Dragons No.8 shirt against his former Edinburgh team-mates at Murrayfield on Friday night.

After three years with Edinburgh, Fijian Talei swapped Scotland for Wales this summer as he teamed up with the Dragons.

But after making his Dragons bow off the bench in their victory over last season’s beaten RaboDirect PRO12 finallists Ulster at Rodney Parade, Talei will be back at his old stomping ground of Murrayfield to take on his former side.

And while the 30-year-old admits Edinburgh will always hold a special place in his heart, he is hellbent on helping his new side pick up the points on Friday night.

"I have always told my friends that whatever happens on the field stays on the field,” Talei said.

“So at the end of the day I am a Dragon and I will do whatever I can to help the boys beat Edinburgh.

"I have settled in very well, the boys have made me feel very welcomed here. It's quite a big change but the boys have been great and we have great banter here.”

Talei will start at No.8 against Edinburgh while Dragons director of rugby Lyn Jones has handed T. Rhys Thomas the captaincy role.

Matthew Pewtner steps into the wing as Tom Prydie is out with an ankle injury, while among the forwards, Owen Evans comes in as loosehead prop with newcomer Matthew Screech and long-standing Adam Jones as the second rows.

The Dragons have won six of their last eight clashes with Edinburgh and have also been victorious on three of their last six visits to Murrayfield.

However, the Dragons have slipped to three successive away defeats and have not beaten a Scottish opponent since last September.

Edinburgh have reacted by losing their RaboDirect PRO12 opener 34-23 to Munster by making five changes, four of which occur among the backs.

Wingers Tim Visser and Nikki Walker fly in, the latter making his debut for the club, while Harry Leonard makes his first start in place of Piers Francis who is absent with an ankle injury.

Ben Atiga is missing with a knee problem so Nick De Luca and Dougie Fife move to the inside and outside centre positions respectively.

The only change in the pack sees Georgian internationalist Dimitri Basilaia selected to start his first match of the season in place of Sean Cox, with Ross Ford handed the captaincy.

On the Edinburgh bench, new signing Wicus Blaauw gears up to make his debut as does Newcastle Falcons and former Scotland under-20 centre Michael Tait, who is on trial with the capital club.

Edinburgh head coach Alan Solomons said: "It would be fantastic to get the home section of our campaign underway with a win but in order to achieve that we need a good performance.

"If we get a good performance then everything will flow from it. It's all about the way we play.

"We know what we want to do, we need to execute our strategy well and we need to play well, if we do that we'll get the result we deserve.”

At Murrayfield, 7.45pm.
Referee: Dudley Phillips (IRFU, 36th competition game)
Assistant Referees: David Changleng, Stephen Ward (both SRU)
Citing Commissioner: Iain Goodall (SRU)