Newport Gwent Dragons Acting Head Coach Darren Edwards has named his team to face Gloucester at Kingsholm this Sunday afternoon in the LV= Anglo-Welsh Cup semi-final.
Lock Luke Charteris returns to captain the Men of Gwent, whilst the dangerous back three of Martyn Thomas, Will Harries and Aled Brew are all back having missed last weekend’s away game against Munster, with Adam Hughes as cover on the bench.
Half-backs Jason Tovey and Wayne Evans both start, with Matthew Jones and Jonathan Evans in reserve, whilst centres Tom Riley and Pat Leach complete the backline.
Charteris is joined in the second row by Adam Jones, with Adam Brown on the bench. Lloyd Burns starts at hooker, with Steve Jones, who captained the Men of Gwent in Cork last weekend, as cover. Promising props Phil Price and Dan Way complete the front row, with Hugh Gustafson and Pat Palmer as replacements.
In the back row, Toby Faletau reverts to his usual position at number eight, with Lewis Evans in the openside position Faletau filled last weekend. Blindside flanker Andrew Coombs completes the starting line-up, with Cross Keys captain Jevon Groves providing support from the bench.
The Dragons qualified for the semi-final after topping their pool with wins over the Scarlets, Sale away at Edgeley Park, and Gloucester at Rodney Parade back in November, making them the only Welsh region to qualify for the knock-out stage of any competition this season.
That November game was the Men of Gwent’s first victory over Gloucester, although they have pushed their hosts close at Kingsholm on their previous visits, securing a bonus point on both occasions, most recently in a 19-17 Heineken Cup defeat in 2009.
Locks Rob Sidoli and Scott Morgan, as well as centre Ashley Smith, were ruled out earlier this week following injuries sustained against Munster, joining hooker Tom Willis and prop Nigel Hall on the sidelines. Willis and Hall’s fellow front-rower Ben Castle is in New Zealand for family reasons.
If they are victorious on Sunday the Men of Gwent will qualify for the first final in the Dragons’ short history, against either Harlequins or Newcastle Falcons on Sunday 20 March at Franklin’s Gardens, Northampton.
Darren Edwards said: “I’m so excited for our players. Gloucester are flying high at the moment, but we’re not going there to make up the numbers – we’re going there to play. We’re going to go at them all guns blazing.”
NEWPORT GWENT DRAGONS TEAM:
15 Martyn Thomas; 14 Will Harries; 13 Tom Riley; 12 Pat Leach; 11 Aled Brew; 10 Jason Tovey; 9 Wayne Evans; 1 Phil Price; 2 Lloyd Burns; 3 Dan Way; 4 Luke Charteris (c); 5 Adam Jones; 6 Andrew Coombs; 7 Lewis Evans; 8 Toby Faletau.
REPLACEMENTS:
16 Steve Jones; 17 Hugh Gustafson; 18 Pat Palmer; 19 Adam Brown; 20 Jevon Groves; 21 Adam Hughes; 22 Jonathan Evans; 23 Matthew Jones.
GLOUCESTER RUGBY:
15 Olly Morgan; 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Henry Trinder; 12 Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu; 11 Tom Voyce; 10 Nicky Robinson; 9 Jordi Pasqualin; 1 Nick Wood; 2 Olivier Azam; 3 Rupert Harden; 4 Jim Hamilton; 5 Alex Brown; 6 Peter Buxton; 7 Andy Hazell; 8 Luke Narraway (c).
REPLACEMENTS:
16 Darren Dawidiuk; 17 Yann Thomas; 18 Shaun Knight; 19 Will James; 20 Akapusi Qera; 21 Tim Taylor; 22 Freddie Burns; 23 Jonny May.
