NEWPORT Gwent Dragons’ Rhys Buckley is relishing the chance to lock horns with Ken Owens in tonight’s derby with the Scarlets rather than pretending to be the Wales hooker.

The 27-year-old from Caldicot has played in all five games of the Guinness Pro12 this season and will have 2 on his back in Llanelli (kick-off 7.35pm).

Buckley has previously had to wait patiently behind former Wales front-rower Rhys Thomas and international hopeful Elliot Dee, but the former is currently sidelined by a minor neck problem while the latter is out with ankle ligament damage suffered in pre-season.

The door has opened for the ‘third’ hooker and he intends to keep grasping his chances.

Buckley has previously spent Scarlets game week helping the starter prepare for an encounter with Owens but now he is the one ready to slug it out with the man who wore 2 in all three Tests against the All Blacks last summer.

“I’ve played against Ken before and he is a good player. It’s nice to challenge yourself against the best and he is in the Wales squad, so is clearly in the top three in the country,” said Buckley, who will be backed up by Darran Harris.

“It’s going to be a massive challenge for us as a pack because Samson Lee is the first-choice tighthead in Wales and is a massive part of their scrum.”

“It’s a bit harsh on Elliot and ‘TRT’ to be injured but for the last two years I’ve sat it out and have watched them playing well every week,” he continued.

“It’s not nice when you are sitting it out and running the Scarlets moves in training, so it’s nice to get a run and more game time under my belt.”

Whereas Buckley has previously had to pretend to be from Llanelli, this week it has been the next generation of Dragons.

He said: “We’ve got a good thing going on at the Dragons at the moment called the transition group, which is the younger players that we go against in training.

“They want to be smashing us but also run the Scarlets plays and you go up against what’s coming at the weekend. They learn the plays on the Monday and it’s better than just watching them on video.

“It’s the likes of (hooker) Ellis Shipp, (prop) Leon Brown, (lock) Joe Davies… (fly-half) Arwel Robson stepped me a treat in training on Tuesday! It brings the intensity up.”

Of Buckley’s 47 appearances for the Dragons, nine have been in Welsh derbies yet he has been on the winning side just once, when he was a replacement in the 21-20 win against the Ospreys at Rodney Parade in January, 2012.

He believes a first success against the Scarlets – who have won the last five meetings with their rivals from Newport – could help spark their season after a frustrating first block in the Guinness Pro12.

“It’s always nice to be involved in the derbies and these are the big games that everyone wants to play,” said Buckley, who had a season in England with Moseley in 2013/14.

“There has been a different intensity in training this week with everyone raring to go. A derby win would change our season because we have been so close against Munster and Glasgow.

“That one win could turn our season and we could build from there.”