For the Newport Gwent Dragons' 50th competitive home match they welcome Bucuresti to Rodney Parade for Round Three of the Challenge Cup competition, kick off 7.30pm.
In the three and a half years since the creation of regional rugby in Wales, The Dragons have faced sides from France, Italy, Scotland, England and Ireland but Friday night marks the first visit of a team from Romania.
The Dragons welcome back into the squad Welsh internationals Kevin Morgan and Ian Gough following their autumn with Wales. Also named in the 24-man squad ahead of the match is USA International Paul Emerick who has recovered from a shoulder injury. Academy member Ashley Smith is also recalled. Among the forwards Peter Sidoli has recovered from a back strain to be included in the squad.
Looking ahead to Friday night's match Head Coach Paul Turner said, "Bucuresti are physically a very strong side and will be competitive in the set piece. However, we have been working extremely hard over the past few months on our power game and as we saw against Worcester last weekend this is paying dividends as we hurt them in the tackle area and matched what was a large side physically. If we can do the same on Friday night then this will go along way to helping us secure a needed victory. Our aim is to qualify for the quarterfinals of the Challenge Cup competition and to ensure we meet this objective we need to win the two games against Bucuresti over the next fortnight. We are viewing this as a must win game in front of the home supporters and aim to put down a benchmark before travelling to Bucharest next week. No matter what happens on Friday night the away game the following week will be as tough as they come."
A total of 87 players have played for the region with Ashley Smith one of the newest faces to have played for the Men of Gwent. Speaking on his experiences with the region Ashley said, "I am really enjoying playing for the team, there is fantastic camaraderie and I am learning a lot from the more experienced players within the squad. However, we all recognise the important two months we have ahead of us. We are aiming to secure a quarterfinal place in the Challenge Cup competition and therefore we need to secure wins in our back-to-back matches against Bucuresti. We are expecting a physical battle on Friday night and have prepared for this, however, we are also hoping to have the opportunity to show our more expansive game and become more clinical in our finishing. Following our European games we have an important period over Christmas when we play the other Welsh regions and with the aim to climb the Magners League table then it is important we secure results against these teams."
The Dragons are also backing the IRB S.O.S. Kit Aid Appeal and the drive to collect kit for the emerging rugby nations.
The Dragons are collecting any kit such as shirts, shorts, boots, protective gear, tracksuits and balls that are no longer used which will be send to the less fortunate kids of Romania and Friday night's game sees the campaign kick off.
If anyone is interested in supporting the worthy cause then they will be able to donate their kit in a collection barrel which will be outside the community suite at Rodney Parade for all remaining Dragons home matches.
To find out more about the cause, visit the website www.newportgwentdragons.com or go direct to the website of the IRB sponsored SOS Kit Aid at www.SOSIRBKITAId.org
Dragons Squad
Kevin Morgan (c), Gareth Wyatt, Paul Emerick, Nathan Brew, Ashley Smith, Aled Brew, Richard Fussell, Ceri Sweeney, Mike Hercus, Gareth Cooper, Alex Walker, Adam Black, Lee Harrison, Jamie Corsi, Ben Daly, Kieran Crawford, Ian Gough, Luke Charteris, Peter Sidoli, Andrew Hall, Michael Owen, Nic Fitisemanu, Colin Charvis, Jamie Ringer.
