Preview: Connacht v Dragons
Eric Elwood has announced his first Magners League team since taking over at Connacht for their opening clash against the Dragons.
Eric Elwood has named his first Magners League team since taking over at Connacht for their opening weekend clash against the Dragons.
Frank Murphy will lead the side from scrum-half with Irish internationals Sean Cronin and Gavin Duffy making the return following their tours with the national side. New signing Ezra Taylor is included while Cillian Willis and Rob Sweeney will look to make a big impact from the bench.
Captain and hooker Tom Willis has dropped out of the matchday squad while Jason Tovey moves to full-back to accommodate Matthew Jones at number ten.
Welsh international Luke Charteris captains the side in the absence of Willis, while experienced Kiwi Danny Lee starts at scrum-half.
Elsewhere in the side, Rhodri Gomer-Davies returns having recovered from a knock sustained in the London Irish game while Robin Sowden-Taylor gets the nod over fellow international Gavin Thomas.
Form: The last four encounters between the two teams have all been won by the home side on the day, whilst Dragons' only previous victory in Galway was 32-14 on 1 May 2004. Connacht have tripped up in round one of the Magners League for the past two seasons, but have suffered just one reversal at the Sportsground in the Magners League in their last six matches. Connacht have won four of their last five home games against Welsh visitors. The Dragons have won their opening match in a Magners League season in four of the past five years. Dragons' only away victory since November was 23-22 at Saracens in the LV= Cup on 7 February. The Men of Gwent's single win in Ireland in their last 24 visits was 16-14 at Ulster on 19 September 2008. Connacht and the Dragons have met once before in round one: in 2007 at the Sportsground where Connacht won 22-7.
The teams:
Connacht: 15 Gavin Duffy, 14 Troy Nathan, 13 Niva Ta'auso, 12 Keith Matthews, 11 Fionn Carr, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Frank Murphy (capt), 8 Ezra Taylor, 7 Ray Ofisa, 6 Michael McCarthy, 5 Bernie Upton, 4 Michael Swift, 3 Jamie Hagan, 2 Sean Cronin, 1 Brett Wilkinson.
Replacements: 16 Adrian Flavin, 17 Ronan Loughney, 18 Rob Sweeney, 19 Dave Nolan, 20 Mike McComish, 21 Cillian Willis, 22 Miah Nikora, 23 Tiernan O'Halloran.
Dragons: 15 Jason Tovey, 14 Will Harries, 13 Rhodri Gomer-Davies, 12 Tom Riley, 11 Aled Brew, 10 Matthew Jones, 9 Danny Lee, 8 Hugo Ellis, 7 Robin Sowden-Taylor, 6 Joe Bearman, 5 Scott Morgan, 4 Luke Charteris (capt), 3 Ben Castle, 2 Steve Jones, 1 Hugh Gustafson.
Replacements: 16 Lloyd Burns, 17 Pat Palmer, 18 Ali Mckenzie, 19 Rob Sidoli, 20 Danny Lydiate, 21 Gavin Thomas, 22 Nicky Griffiths, 23 David Bishop.
Date: Saturday, September 4
Kick-off: 17:30
Venue: The Sportsground
Referee: James Jones (Wales)
Assistant referees: Alan Rogan (Ireland), Ollie Hodges (Ireland)
Television match official: Sean Flannery (Ireland)
Assessor: John Sheehan (Ireland)