Ashley Smith to captain the Dragons
Newport Gwent Dragons centre Ashley Smith will become the youngest player to captain the region this weekend as the Dragons clash with Gloucester at Kingsholm in the EDF Energy Cup on Saturday 25 October, kick-off 3pm.
Head Coach Paul Turner hands the twenty one year old centre from Newport the opportunity as he makes his 40th appearance for the region since joining the senior squad from the Dragons academy in 2005.
“From an early age Ashley has proved to be a natural leader. He is a strong and physical inside centre who organises the team and players around him,” said Paul.
“He is a dedicated individual with skills in both defence and attack and a great example of the natural progression within the region from academy level to senior squad, through to European Cup selection and eventual captaincy.”
He added: “This says a lot about Ashley as a player and he will serve us well as captain against Gloucester this weekend.”
Ashley, who captained Wales U20s in the 2007 6 Nations, is one of nine changes to Paul Turner’s team that have recently played both Glasgow Warriors and Bath in the Heineken Cup. Paul commented:
“The Heineken Cup has so far produced some huge performances from our squad and so there was a need to refresh the team for this weekend as there were a lot of tired bodies in the squad.
“Again this weekend we are faced with a big challenge away from home against a team that have their own great home record. Having played against Gloucester and also coached there for a season in 2002 I fully appreciate what a great rugby town it is and would urge the fans to get behind the Dragons as they did so well at Bath last weekend.”
Ashley Smith will relish the challenge at Gloucester this weekend when he becomes the 50th player (29 forwards/21 backs) to captain a Welsh region and the 14th player to captain the Newport Gwent Dragons. Ashley said:
“This is a huge honour for me, especially coming from Gwent and having played for the Dragons since a young age. I’m thoroughly looking forward to the game on Saturday and will put my all into building on the momentum that the lads have achieved over the past few weeks.”
Dragons Performance Development Manager Will Thomas is thrilled that the Dragons academy has produced the first player from the academy system in Wales to captain his region. He commented:
“I am delighted that Ashley has been named as the Dragons captain for this weekend’s EDF Energy Cup game and believe this is testament to the great work that is being put in at both academy and senior level in the region.
“One of our responsibilities at academy level is to identify and develop leadership qualities and Ashley is certainly a player that stood out. He, alongside players such as Lewis Evans, Dan Lydiate and James Harris, are shining examples of how we are developing the young talent to benefit the rugby in the Gwent region.”
The team to face Gloucester on Saturday is as follows:
15 Phil Dollman
14 Tal Selley
13 Rhodri Gomer Davies
12 Ashley Smith (captain)
11 Richard Fussell
10 Shaun Connor
9 Wayne Evans
1 Adam Black
2 Steve Jones
3 Rhys Thomas
4 Adam Jones
5 Andy Hall
6 Danny Lydiate
7 Richard Parks
8 Grant Webb
16 Tom Willis
17 Alex Murphy
18 Joe Bearman
19 Jamie Ringer
20 Gareth Maule
21 Jason Tovey
22 Tom Isaacs
Full Name: Ashley Edward Smith
Date Of Birth: 13/02/1987 (21)
Place Of Birth: Newport (Wales)
Height: 182cm / 6'
Weight: 92kg / 203lbs / 14st 7lbs
Clubs: Newport
Education: Caerleon Comprehensive School (Wales)
Regions: Dragons U20 / Newport Gwent Dragons
Honours: Wales U16 / Wales U18 / Wales U19 / Wales U20
