Preview: Dragons v Connacht

The Dragons have made a handful of changes for their Magners League fixture against Connacht at Rodney Parade on Thursday.

The Dragons have made a handful of changes for what could be a Magners League scrap against Connacht at Rodney Parade on Thursday.

From the team which faced the Scarlets, Jonathan Evans comes in at scrum-half, new signing Mike Petri is on the bench, locks Rob Sidoli and Adam Jones both return to the line-up, whilst Lewis Evans also starts at flanker.

The front-row trio of Hugh Gustafson, Ben Castle and captain Tom Willis all start, whilst Gavin Thomas and Toby Faletau retain their places. Luke Charteris drops to the bench where he is joined by the returning Andrew Coombs. Steve Jones, Pat Palmer and Phil Price provide cover.

In the backs Will Harries continues at full-back, Adam Hughes and Aled Brew fill the wing berths, and Tom Riley partners Ashley Smith in the centre. Jason Tovey is at ten, with Pat Leach and Mathew Jones among the replacements.

The Men of Gwent last faced Connacht in the opening game of this season, when they were beaten 40-17, but they have a strong home record against the Irish province, having won six of the previous seven clashes between the two played at Rodney Parade, most recently winning 23-10 in October 2009.

Meanwhile, Connacht make a number of positional changes and two personnel alterations.

Sean Cronin, back from an IRFU imposed break (under the Player Welfare Management Programme), replaces Adrian Flavin at hooker in the line-up. Mike McComish has recovered from the illness that ruled him out of last week's clash with Leinster and he replaces Shane Conneely on the bench.

The rest of the pack remains unchanged with Academy star Eoin McKeon retaining his place at number eight following an impressive display last week. The reshuffled back-line sees the adaptable Ian Keatley move to full-back with Troy Nathan, who qualifies for Ireland through residency, shift to the wing.

Nathan has 64 caps for Connacht and has shown his versatility having played in every position in the backline for the Province. Academy graduate Eoin Griffin moves to outside centre and he is joined on the wing by Fionn Carr, with Brian Tuohy providing cover.

Form: The last five clashes between the two sides have all been won by the home team on the day. Connacht won 40-17 against Dragons in round one but have not achieved a season's double over the Welshmen since 2007/08. Dragons' only win in their last six matches in all competitions was 20-6 at home to Munster in the Magners League on 26 November. Dragons have won their last three games at Rodney Parade, whilst the last seven Irish sides to visit the venue have all lost. Connacht have lost their last eight encounters in all competitions since their 16-13 victory over Bayonne on 15 October. The Irishmen have won just once away from home in the Magners League since April 2008: 19-17 at Glasgow on 17 September 2010.

The teams:

Dragons: 15 Will Harries, 14 Adam Hughes, 13 Tom Riley, 12 Ashley Smith, 11 Aled Brew, 10 Jason Tovey, 9 Jonathan Evans, 8 Toby Faletau. 7 Gavin Thomas, 6 Lewis Evans, 5 Robert Sidoli, 4 Adam Jones, 3 Ben Castle, 2 Tom Willis (capt), 1 Hugh Gustafson.
Replacements: 16 Steve Jones, 17 Pat Palmer, 18 Phil Price, 19 Luke Charteris, 20 Andrew Coombs, 21 M Jones, 22 Mike Petri, 23 Pat Leach.

Connacht: 15 Ian Keatley, 14 Troy Nathan, 13 Eoin Griffin, 12 Keith Matthews (capt), 11 Fionn Carr, 10 Miah Nikora, 09 Cillian Willis, 8 Eoin McKeon, 7 Johnny O'Connor, 6 Andrew Browne, 5 Michael McCarthy, 4 Michael Swift, 3 Jamie Hagan, 2 Sean Cronin, 1 Brett Wilkinson.
Replacements: 16 Adrian Flavin, 17 Rodney Ah You, 18 Dylan Rogers, 19 Bernie Upton, 20 Mike McComish, 21 Frank Murphy, 22 Niva Ta'auso, 23 Brian Tuohy.

Date: Thursday, January 6
Kick-off: 19:35
Venue: Rodney Parade
Referee: Alan Lewis (Ireland)
Assistant referees: David Bodilly (Wales), Greg Morgan (Wales)
Television match official: Tony Rowlands (Wales)