Dragons Look to Retain Record at Rodney Parade

Dragons look to capitalise on their home advantage when they take on Connacht as the last seven clashes between the two sides have all gone the way of the home team.

Newport Gwent Dragons will be looking to capitalise on their home advantage when they take on Connacht at Rodney Parade on Friday 18 April (kick off 7.10pm) as the last seven clashes between the two sides have all gone the way of the home team.

Head Coach Paul Turner makes five changes to the team that faced Glasgow Warriors at home and is looking for a huge performance from the team this weekend.

Ceri Sweeney returns at fly-half, Paul Emerick replaces injured centre Ashley Smith and Martyn Thomas comes in at full-back with Kevin Morgan moving onto the bench.

In the forwards, Adam Black returns pending fitness testing and Michael Owen replaces Jamie Ringer at number eight who takes a seat on the bench.

Connacht have not won at Rodney Parade since a 16-14 league win over Newport RFC in September 2001. Flanker Joe Bearman is confident that the Dragons have what it takes to secure a victory over Connacht at home this week. He said:

“Training has been going very well this week and we’ve worked on a lot of our weaknesses which will hopefully show on the pitch on Friday night against Connacht.

“I’m very much looking forward to the challenge as we look to accumulate more points and to end the season on a high.”

The team to face Connacht is as follows:

15 Martyn Thomas

14 Gareth Wyatt

13 Paul Emerick

12 Rhodri Gomer-Davies

11 Richard Mustoe

10 Ceri Sweeney

9 Andrew Williams

1 Adam Black/ Dai Pattison

2 Steve Jones

3 Rhys Thomas