The Rodney Parade outfit head into tomorrows double header match, against Pau (KO 14:30) with smiles on their faces after the excellent 22-6 PRO12 win. The Dragons currently sit at the top of their European Rugby Challenge Cup pool table whilst Pau currently sit at the bottom of the table.
The one change to the team sees the inclusion of young gun Ollie Griffiths. Griffiths takes the place of Nic Cudd, who will start for the Dragons Premiership Select team against Doncaster Knights. The 20-year-old flanker will make his 5th start of the season for the Region and head coach Kingsley Jones is looking forward to seeing the Wales U20s star take on the French team. Jones commented: “The back row was excellent last weekend but we are involving Ollie because he is the future for us we hope so we are developing him along the way.”
Having never played Pau, the Dragons take on the unknown visitors, whom Jones expect to pull out all the stops in order to score some crucial points on the table. “They will make changes and it doesn’t weaken them but French sides are possibly not as organised as they would like to be in this competition.
Jones added: “We have to take advantage of that but the challenge is the physicality that they bring. We would like to think that we can move them around and we will be doing our best to carry on in the positive way that we played against Sale Sharks in Europe and last weekend against Munster.”
There are two changes made to the replacements bench as Elliot Dee and Luc Jones join Shaun Knight, Lloyd Fairbrother, Cory Hill, Ed Jackson, Jason Tovey and Ross Wardle.
Newport Gwent Dragons team to face Pau
Carl Meyer, Tom Prydie, Adam Hughes, Adam Warren, Ashton Hewitt, Dorian Jones, Sarel Pretorius; Phil Price, Thomas Rhys Thomas ©, Brok Harris, Matthew Screech, Rynard Landman, Lewis Evans, Ollie Griffiths, Taulupe Faletau.
Replacements: Elliot Dee, Lloyd Fairbrother, Shaun Knight, Cory Hill, Ed Jackson, Luc Jones, Jason Tovey, Ross Wardle.
Tickets for the Newport Gwent Dragons clash against Cardiff Blues re now on sale and selling fast, with many areas already sold out. To buy your tickets call 01633 674990 or go to www.newportgwentdragons.com/tickets.
