Connacht have not won at Rodney Parade since a 16-14 league win over Newport RFC in September 2001 and the Irish side are struggling at the foot of the Magners League season.
And victory over Connacht is crucial for the Dragons as they look to avoid a Heineken Cup play-off match for finishing the season as the lowest placed Welsh region. Paul Turner’s side currently trail the Ospreys by six points and have a showdown at the Liberty Stadium on April 25th.
Head Coach Turner makes five changes to the team that faced Glasgow Warriors at home and is looking for a huge performance from the team this weekend. Ceri Sweeney returns at fly half, Paul Emerick replaces injured centre Ashley Smith and Martyn Thomas comes in at fullback with Kevin Morgan moving onto the bench.
In the forwards, Adam Black returns pending fitness testing and Michael Owen replaces Jamie Ringer at No.8 who takes a seat on the bench.
Flanker Joe Bearman is confident that the Dragons have what it takes to secure a victory over Connacht at home this week: “Training has been going very well this week and we’ve worked on a lot of our weaknesses which will hopefully show on the pitch on Friday night against Connacht,” he said.
“I’m very much looking forward to the challenge as we look to accumulate more points and to end the season on a high.”
Newport Gwent Dragons: Martyn Thomas; Gareth Wyatt, Paul Emerick, Rhodri Gomer-Davies, Richard Mustoe; Ceri Sweeney, Andrew Williams; Adam Black/Dai Pattison, Steve Jones, Rhys Thomas, Adam Jones, Luke Carteris, Colin Charvis (Capt), Joe Bearman, Michael Owen
Replacements: Ben Daly, Dai Pattison/Lee Harrison, Andy Hall, Jamie Ringer, Jason Tovey, Kevin Morgan, Wayne Evans
Connacht: Gavin Duffy; Matt Mostyn, Mel Deane, Keith Matthews, Daniel Riordan; Troy Nathan, Conor McPhillips; Brett Wilkinson, Adrian Flavin, Robbie Morris; David Gannon, Andrew Farley (Capt); John Muldoon, John O’Connor, Colm Rigney
Replacements: John Fogarty, Ronan Loughney, Andrew Browne, Liam Casserly, Rob Shaw, Andy Dunne, Darren Yapp
