Dragons without Wales hooker Dee for Sharks game

Dragons will be without Wales hooker Elliot Dee for Friday's United Rugby Championship (URC) game against Sharks while waiting to learn the full extent of a shoulder injury.

The 31-year-old went off in the 17th minute of the 42-21 defeat by Ulster in Belfast last Friday.

Dee was helped from the field with his right arm in a makeshift sling after suffering a blow when carrying strongly in the build-up to Jared Rosser's try.

The hooker will not be available for the bid to end an 18-game URC losing streak against Sharks in Newport (20:05 BST).

"Elliot is recovering and getting some scans, hopefully we will know where he is at soon and that he won't be out for too long," said head coach Filo Tiatia.

"It was a concern because he is one of our leading players - an international and important to the squad.

"We will wait for the results and hopefully he can recover really quickly, but he won't be involved this week."

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The hooker made six appearances for Dragons last season after missing the start of the season because of an ankle injury, although he did feature in all five of Wales' games in the Six Nations.

Dee will try to add to his 56 caps in the autumn internationals when the Steve Tandy era starts against Argentina, Japan, New Zealand and South Africa.

He toured Japan in the summer, but Dewi Lake and Liam Belcher were selected for the two Tests.

Belcher also went off on the opening weekend after suffering a head injury for Cardiff against Lions while Scarlets' Ryan Elias has been ruled out until November after elbow surgery.

Dragons will also be without centre Joe Westwood and wing Jared Rosser against Sharks after they went off in the first half of the defeat at Ulster.

That could mean a first start for wing Fine Inisi after he came off the bench in Belfast and a debut for centre Fetuli Paea, who has returned from Pacific Nations Cup duty with Tonga.

"Fetuli brings experience and is a big man who can carry, has good footwork and vision," said Tiatia.

"The challenge is connection with players who he hasn't played with before, but they have made an effort to make sure he knows his role and the language that we are using.

"He has been with Tonga for the last five or six weeks so we need to make sure he travels light and is really clear on his role."

Dragons' last win against South African opposition was against Cheetahs in February 2020 before the introduction of Sharks, Stormers, Bulls and Lions for the URC era.