Smith played for Newport in the 1999-2000 European Challenge Cup before moving to Italy and playing for Treviso for three seasons. He returns as the Head Coach of the reigning Italian Champions keen to avenge the narrow loss of last weekend.
The Dragons beat Treviso 35-32 in Round Three at Stadio Comunale di Monigo last Saturday, coming away with a vital bonus point and now the former South Africa fly-half has returned to the green, green grass of Rodney Parade aiming to coach his team to their first away day win in 12 Heineken Cup matches.
His side could have won last weekend, and Dragons Head Coach Paul Turner knows it: “For forty-five minutes in Treviso we played some wonderful rugby but unfortunately some glaring errors allowed Treviso back in the game.
“That will make the Italians more confident travelling to Rodney Parade this weekend and we must improve defensively. We must also make sure that we play the football that we are capable of and produce the top performance that we owe to our supporters.”
Colin Charvis captains the team against Treviso and added: “It was pleasing to get an away win in Europe. We played some top class rugby out there last week, bringing home the five points that we went out there to get, although equally we switched off and made some mistakes. We are determined to learn from that and put in a full 80 minute performance this weekend.”
Fullback Kevin Morgan is fired up for the Round Four contest in front of the home fans: “The fans who travelled to Treviso last week were superb and we’ll be looking for a win at home to thank them for their commitment to supporting the team.
“When you’re away from home, especially in Europe, the travelling fans give you that extra confidence and last week we managed a win. As a team we thank everyone who travelled to support us last week. This week we are feeling confident but we don’t underestimate the Treviso side. They are a strong unit as they showed in last week’s second half performance.”
Newport Gwent Dragons: K Morgan; M Thomas, P Emerick, R Gomer-Davies, R Fussell; C Sweeney, A Williams; A Black, S Jones, R Thomas, L Charteris, M Owen, J Bearman, R Parks, C Charvis (capt)
Replacements: B Daly, H Gustafson, A Jones, J Ringer, W Evans, A Thomas, A Smith
Benetton Treviso: B Williams; L Borges, M Horak, M Goosen (capt), B De Jager; A Marcato, F Semenzato; N De Gregori, F Sbaraglini, M Barbieri, A Pavanello, C Van Zyl, R Barbieri, F Louw, D Kingi
Replacements: D Vidal, M Muccignat, S Orlando, W Johnson, S Palmer, S Picone, N Mauger
Referee: Andrew Small (England)
