Newport Gwent Dragons have named a squad of 23 for their final home Heineken Cup pool match against Edinburgh on Saturday kick off 2.30pm. Included in the squad are skipper Jason Forster and scrum half Gareth Cooper. Forster has recovered from an appendix operation and has trained with the squad all week whilst Gareth Cooper is making steady progress after suffering from a groin injury.
A final decision on whether these two players will start the match will be made after training today. Forster is relishing being back involved with the squad and training again commenting, “It is good to be back training with The Dragons and getting all the banter from the boys especially after missing the games over Christmas. It is nice to be involved and the game on Saturday is one of the biggest games for the club as we look to try and progress into the next stages of the Heineken Cup. We have to win and clinch the bonus point and hope Perpignan do us a favour by beating Newcastle.”
This is the third meeting between the two sides this season with the score currently one a-piece. The Dragons won the Heineken Cup meeting in Murrayfield whilst Edinburgh won with a last kick of the game for a shock win at Rodney Parade in the Celtic League. “Both sides know a lot about each other and the way they like to play the game,” commented Michael Owen.
“Edinburgh are a side who do not get the credit they deserve. They have quality players throughout their team with Mike Blair, Scott Murray and captain Todd Blackadder who always leads by example. After reaching the quarterfinals of the competition last season they will be keen not to end this seasons campaign with a white wash and so will be hoping they can sneak a win at Rodney Parade. However, to keep our Heineken Cup aspirations alive then we have to take the four points for a win and a bonus point to take to the last pool game against Newcastle.”
The Dragons New Year resolution as a team is to become more consistent as a side. Jim McCreedy team manager commented, “I think it is fair to say that apart from our home performances against Leinster and Perpignan we have not shown consistency as a side. This year we want to reach the level of performance that we did against these two sides week in week out. All too often we show flashes of what we can do but do not sustain that level of performance for the duration of the match. We need to do that starting with Edinburgh on the weekend.”
Dragons Squad
Percy Montgomery, Kevin Morgan, Gareth Wyatt, Hal Luscombe, Sione Tuipulotu, Steve Winn, Nathan Brew, Ceri Sweeney, Craig Warlow, Gareth Baber, Gareth Cooper, Adam Black, Steve Jones, James Richards, Rhys Thomas, Chris Anthony, Luke Charteris, Peter Sidoli, Ian Gough, Rhys Oakley, Jason Forster, Jamie Ringer, Michael Owen.
