Saturday marks the 100th competitive game for The Dragons when they travel to Bucuresti in the European Challenge Cup competition aiming to qualify for the quarterfinals of the competition.
The Dragons are currently lying second in Pool One, three points behind leaders Bristol. The Dragons defeated Bucuresti last Friday night 66-10 and face the return leg on Saturday. Despite the emphatic win The Dragons are taking Saturday's game very seriously as coach Leigh Jones explained, "Firstly, as it is The Dragons 100th competitive game as a region on Saturday we are looking to secure a win but to keep the pressure on Bristol we need to pick up five points. It will be a good experience to travel to Romania on the weekend and the competition allows you the opportunity of playing teams you normally wouldn't. It is allowing us the opportunity to test ourselves in different environments and it is interesting to see how we react. We are expecting a tough game on Saturday, it was very physical on Friday and they scored a push over try at the end of the match. We cannot allow any lapses in concentration and they showed how strong they are at home as they pushed Bristol all they way and defeated Bayonne in the earlier rounds of the competition. Naturally, we want to do well in the tournament and as a minimum reach the quarter finals and to do that we need to get maximum points on Saturday."
The Dragons have made six changes from the side that defeated Bucuresti last weekend, among the backs Paul Emerick has recovered from an injured shoulder to take his place at outside centre with Nathan Brew moving onto the wing in place of his brother Aled who is on the replacements bench. Kieran Crawford comes in for the injured Ben Daly while Peter Sidoli has recovered from his knee injury to make the starting line up. Michael Owen comes in at blindside flanker, Colin Charvis moves to open side flankers and Nic Fitisemanu starts at No.8.
"Friday night was a tough game for The Dragons and we are expecting even more of a physical game on the weekend," said Dragons lock Ian Gough. "We are expecting them to play more of a driving game and we will be prepared for this accordingly. They will be disappointed with their performance last week and will look to avenge that on Saturday in front of their home crowd. We know they are out for revenge but we want to mark our 100th match with a win."
On the replacements bench The Dragons management keep their policy of wherever possible selecting academy members with two named on the bench, Richard Wilkes (20) and Jamie Corsi (18). Wilkes featured as a replacement in the pre season match against Bath while Corsi has started two games and featured as a replacement on three occasions. Other replacements are Ian Gough, Jamie Ringer, Mike Hercus and Aled Brew and Gareth Baber.
Ceri Sweeney will make his 50th competitive start for The Dragons on Saturday looking ahead to the game he said, "Saturday's game will allow us to build on what we achieved in our home game. We were pleased to secure the bonus point win which was our primary objective. We travel with the same aim to firstly secure a win and secondly to secure the bonus point which will keep the heat on pool leaders Bristol. The Challenge Cup is a tournament we are enjoying being involved in, however, the aim still remains to qualify for the Heineken Cup competition. We need to maintain the momentum generated in the home fixture and take it on the road. Despite our early two wins in Scotland at the start of the season we have let ourselves down away from home, we need to put that right and where better than in Romania on Saturday for our 100th game."
Dragons Team
Kevin Morgan, Gareth Wyatt, Paul Emerick, Ashley Smith, Nathan Brew, Ceri Sweeney, Gareth Cooper, Adam Black, Kieran Crawford, Lee Harrison, Peter Sidoli, Luke Charteris, Michael Owen, Colin Charvis, Nic Fitisemanu.
Replacements
Richard Wilkes, Jamie Corsi, Ian Gough, Jamie Ringer, Aled Brew, Mike Hercus, Aled Brew.
