MORGAN TO LEAD OUT DRAGONS

Skipper Forster has been ever-present for the Dragons over the last three seasons but is rested following Tuesday night’s 15-9 defeat at defending champions Ospreys. So Grand Slam star Morgan, top try scorer in the Celtic League last season, captains a Dragons side showing six changes from mid-week.

Wales hooker Steve Jones is back from a knee injury while summer signings Leigh Hinton and prop David maddocks make their competitive debuts following their arrival from Bedford and Llanelli Scarlets respectively. Tongan centre Sione Tuipulotu replaces Jon Bryant, Scotland flanker Andrew Hall comes in at blindside flanker with Jamie Ringer moving to openside and Rhys Oakley starts at No. 8.

“Leinster will pose an immense challenge to us on Friday and it is our third away match on the bounce,” said Dragons coach Paul Turner. “Naturally we are disappointed to have lost to the Ospreys especially as we had chances to win. However, we have to put that defeat behind us. We know there are areas that need a vast improvement and we are aiming to put those areas right on Friday night.

“There’s no doubt we need to improve if we want to beat Leinster but it was only a narrow defeat we suffered to the Ospreys and we could have won the match so we have to take heart from that.

“Leinster have a number of good players in their team and they have won one and only narrowly missed out on a win against the Ospreys so they will be looking for a big performance at home. We will aim to get into them early on and keep the pressure on them.”