DRAGONS SQUAD FOR AIRONI + injury news

http://www.newportgwentdragons.com/newsarticle.aspx?n=19100

Dragons Head Coach Darren Edwards has named a 25-man squad for the region’s first home game of the season against Aironi on Saturday (6:30pm)

Backs
Martyn Thomas, Adam Hughes, Matthew Pewtner, Tom Riley, Pat Leach, Mike Poole, Jason Tovey, Matthew Jones, James Leadbeater, Wayne Evans, Joe Bedford.

Forwards
Phil Price, Rhys Buckley, Nathan Williams, Nathan Buck, Sam Parry, Tom Willis, Dan Way, Adam Jones, Rob Sidoli, Lewis Evans, Jevon Groves, Gavin Thomas, Andrew Coombs, Darren Waters.

Players not considered through Injury
Ben Castle (Hamstring, 8 weeks)
Tom Brown (Dead Leg, 2 weeks)
Jonathan Evans (Hamstring , 2 weeks)
Jamie Smith (Hamstring, 4-6 weeks)
Ashley Smith (Hamstring, 2-4 weeks)

Decent enough, but sad Steffan Jones isn't playing, he had a rough time in Ireland, so maybe their going to give him a rest.
They should beat Aironi though.

No Steffan Jones, Scott Morgan or Hugo Ellis. Not injured either. Pity Jamie Smith is injured too, as Adam Hughes will probably be lumped on the wing again. Hopefully they'll give Pewtner a shot.

Anyone going, I ordered my ticket last night, and it came this morning, pretty good service!
Can't wait!

Yeah Pewtner deserves a shot on the wing, Hughes to 13. We live in hope anyway. What has Scott Morgan done?

I've had my season ticket stuff through with a temporary ticket until the swipe cards are done. All the usual vouchers are here, 10% off at Poppadams is a welcome addition.

It is Rucking, but they also balanced it out by taking two free pints off us. Still, there's a lot more useful stuff in the booklet this year.

Can't wait to be back at Dave.

Didn't notice the missing pints, shame

Id be so tempted to get a Dragons season ticket but the prices are disgusting compared to other regions, to sit in the equivilent place I have at the Ospreys would cost me £300, yet for the same seat at the Ospreys costs me £160, and they threw in a free jersey, and Heinaken Cup rugby too...

£300? WTF?

Where is that seat, in the commentary box on Jiffys lap?

Alyn, I've just looked at the Ospreys site and I can't see any season tickets for £160, unless you are talking about OAP or early bird prices?

http://www.ospreysrugby.com/tickets/2010_11_season_tickets.php

They have a ticket for £185, but that's their cheapest ticket. Why compare the Ospreys cheapest ticket with one of the Dragon's most expensive and then call it disgusting? Any adult can get a Dragons season ticket for £240, and that's only £160 if you buy it early. Compare like with like please - when you say the 'equivalent place' at the Ospreys, what do you mean?

Surely 300 quid is the new stand right? Can't be that much in the Hazell surely? To be fair though I've never taken any notice of the season ticket prices anywhere in the ground other than the Hazell terrace, so they could be anything for all I know.

Rucking, yeah i'm Hazell terrace too! There are seats in our new stand for £340, then others there for £300 and less and the best seats in the Hazell stand for £300. However, these all become much cheaper if you get in for early bird prices. You can get a seat in the Hazell stand for £190 if you're an 'early bird'.

To be honest though, I'm in a terrace and it costs £160 (early bird). We get 11 league games, at least 3 european games, a couple of pre-season friendlies and 2 (?) LV cup games. That's 18 home games for £160. That's £8.88 per ticket. I don't think they could do it any cheaper! You can't run professional sport by given away tickets, IMO. I think I'd be embarrassed to pay any less to see pro sport!

Yeah I pay the same price, break it down to each game and it's pittance. I lose more than that every saturday in Revs. Plus you've got the free tickets/vouchers aswell.

I can't wait to get over dave!
Squad looks good, hopefully Lewis e will play at 8 and I'd bring in pewtner with Hughes at 13 (but it wont happen). We are a far stronger side and hopefully we will rack up the 4 trys.

Toveys key for me and I hope he's got Wayne as his halfback partner.

Will Jevon Groves be covering lock/backrow or will Coombes move up like last season?

15 Martyn Thomas, 14 Adam Hughes, 13 Tom Riley, 12 Pat Leach, 11 Mike Poole, 10 Jason Tovey, 9 Wayne Evans, 1 Phil Price, 2 Tom Willis, 3 Dan Way, 4 Adam Jones, 5 Rob Sidoli, 6 Lewis Evans, 7 Gavin Thomas, 8 Andrew Coombs

Replacements
16 Rhys Buckley, 17 Nathan Williams, 18 Nathan Buck, 19 Darren Waters , 20 Jevon Groves, 21 Joe Bedford, 22 Matthew Jones, 23 Matthew Pewtner.

Flip sake. Riley again mun. Good that Wayneo is back at 9.

Surly Coombes 6 Lewis 8?
Halfbacks n back 3 look tidy but again riley is a weaklink. I dout he will be tested like he was in the first to games but you've got to feel for Hughes, hes one of our best runners n he's stuck on the wing. Good to see Martyn and Wayne come in and the pack looks decent enough. Bench isn't the strongest but we should have to much for aroni.

Youngguns, I agree with you. I'd have Lewis at 8 and Coombs on the bench. Although, Coombes has impressed me a lot lately. Has he bulked up or just got stronger or something? Seems a lot more aggressive this season, even though we've had a losing start. Adam Jones appears to be a bit better too. He's started to carry a bit of ball which I don't think i've seen much from him before. Good pre-seasons I guess.

I'd also have Pewtner and Poole on the wings with Hughes at OC. Riley could then come on if need be (injuries) so that everyone starting was at least in their proper positions. We're going into this with Hughes out of position for no reason!

Very inexperienced bench, but this is exactly the sort of game to blood these youngsters. If we're coasting at 20 odd points up (famous last words) then chuck some (but not too many!) on for the experience.

Evans and Coombs are both good blindsides/8's, Coombs captained Newport at 8 remember so he has plenty of experience there. When Dan comes back I'd like to see Evans at openside with Toby 8, Edwards has said before he see's Evans future at openside. We could have a very good young back row coming through before long, easy to forget that Evans is still only a youngster in his early 20's.

Cant add any more than what has already been said about the backs. Pewtner deserves a start on the wing, Hughes deserves a chance to play in his favoured position. I'd have Riley on the bench to cover centre/wing.

Can;t say I know too much about these Dragons players, but it will be the only game I will watch this week as the other 3 teams are away .

Stand looks good

The try was on the cards

Fantastic atmosphere tonight, brilliant to see that despite the new stand opening the atmosphere is the same in the Hazell stand.
I was getting a bit worried for the Dragons but I'm glad they pulled it through in the end and secured the win.
Best fans in Wales to be honest, had a great time with some fans in the club house before kick off and a few beers, then spent the entire game getting chatted up by a stunning blonde, who was sat next to me.

Don't want to sound negative but I was there and it was one of the worst games I've seen a RP, ever. Truly awful. Yes, it was raining on and off. But we played better in defeat against Munster. We had nothing to offer through the middle so had to try to get it to the wings, but were so bad we couldn't get it there without butchering overlaps. I hear that Aironi were missing more than us on international duty so there can be no excuses.

I guess I'm just in a good mood because of spending the entire game chatting to the blonde then

Was the game really that awful?

Alyn, maybe it was kid me! However, the first home game was hyped up and we always look to this as a 5 pointer (maybe a bit arrogant?). Other teams do it, and successfully, but today we weren't good enough to do it.

To put it into context, Aironi have never won away from home in the league (as far as I know) but were not too far off against us!

Yes Griff but how many other teams have got bonus point wins over Aironi this season?
They put up a hell of a fight against the Scarlets, they may have a lot of players missing but they come to spoil and fight hard, and the Dragons didnt take a step backward the whole match and did get the win.
Sadly with the heavy raid it is hard for the Dragons to play their fast, avoid contact, running game.

It wasnt the greatest performance maybe, but after 2 losses confidence must of been a bit low and this win will help restore it.

Poor game but a win is a win. My biggest concern is losing Poole, Hughes, Riley and possibly more I can't remember. We will look very light in the backs if these three are out for a few weeks.

Backs Riley (dead leg), Wayne Evans (groin), Mike Poole (shoulder) and Adam Hughes (neck) all left the field injured and are extremely doubtful for the trip to Ireland.

Poole's shoulder injury is of greatest concern, with the winger facing surgery.

With Ashley Smith, Jamie Smith and Will Harries already sidelined, and Aled Brew on World Cup duty, the Dragons will have to turn to academy or club players to supplement the squad to face Connacht.

Poole came steaming past me when I was coming back from the bar, he was holding his shoulder and did not look happy. Out injured for ages, plays his first few pro games and injured again