Preview: Dragons v Glasgow
Glasgow welcome back old boys Mark McMillan and Tom Barker for their opening Magners League game of the season, away to the Dragons at Rodney Parade on Friday.
Glasgow welcome back old boys Mark McMillan and Tom Barker for their opening Magners League game of the season, away to the Dragons at Rodney Parade on Friday.
McMillan returns to Glasgow from Wasps, where he won the Heineken Cup and Guinness Premiership, whilst Barker is back in Scotland after spells at Ulster and Castres.
“I really enjoyed my previous spell with Glasgow but there's now a greater degree of ambition and anticipation around the squad,” Barker said.
“The Magners League is now the most closely-fought professional league in the world so it's an exciting competition to be involved in.”
McMillan was also impressed with how far Glasgow have come since he was last a part of their set-up.
“I've been very impressed with the changes in both the Glasgow set-up and the level of competition in the Magners League,” he said.
“It's going to be fantastic to be part of the team again but it'll also be a tough first game. We've got the Dragons in Europe as well this year so whoever wins on Friday night will have the upper hand not only in our own League battle but our European one also.”
Elsewhere the back row consists of the 'Three B's' – Johnnie Beattie, John Barclay and Kelly Brown – whilst the Evans brothers both feature in the back line.
Paul Turner has named a Dragons side that will see Tom Willis, James Arlidge, Marc Stcherbina and Rory Sidey make their competitive debuts for the Dragons.
Willis will lead the side this season and is the only new face in an otherwise settled forward pack, but the backs have a distinctly new look to them.
Sidey and Stcherbina form the midfield pairing, whilst Arlidge slots in at fly-half. Tal Selley, who spent last season with Cardiff Blues, takes his place on the right wing.
Form: The Dragons have won on the opening weekend of a new season for the past three years, and finished their last campaign with back-to-back wins over Ospreys and Leinster at Rodney Parade. Glasgow Warriors have started their last four league campaigns off with an opening weekend defeat. The Warriors finished 2007/08 with five straight wins in the Magners League, whilst another win would break the Glasgow mark for successive league victories set in 2001/02. Glasgow's 20-14 win at Rodney Parade last March ended a seven-game losing run against the Dragons.
Prediction: This could be the closest game of the round, with both sides fielding strong sides, but you have to fancy the home side. Dragons by 5.
The Teams:
Dragons: 15 Ashley Smith, 14 Tal Selley, 13 Rory Sidey , 12 Marc Stcherbina, 11 Richard Fussell, 10 James Arlidge, 9 Wayne Evans, 8 Lewis Evans, 7 Richard Parks, 6 Joe Bearman, 5 Luke Charteris, 4 Adam Jones, 3 Rhys Thomas, 2 Tom Willis (c), 1 Adam Black.
Replacements: 16 Hugh Gustafson, 17 Lee Harrison, 18 Jamie Ringer, 19 Grant Webb, 20 Shaun Connor, 21 Gareth Maule, 22 Robert Lewis.
Glasgow: 15 Bernardo Stortoni, 14 Lome Fa'atau, 13 Max Evans, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 Thom Evans, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Mark McMillan, 8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 John Barclay, 6 Kelly Brown, 5 Alastair Kellock (c), 4 Tim Barker, 3 Moray Low, 2 Dougie Hall, 1 Justin Va'a.
Replacements: 16 Eric Milligan, 17 Kevin Tkachuk, 18 Opeta Palepoi, 19 Stevie Swindall, 20 Colin Gregor, 21 Andrew Henderson, 22 Ruaridh Jackson.
Date: Friday 5 September, 2008
Kick-off: 19:05 BST (18:05 GMT)
Venue: Rodney Parade
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Touch judges: Phil Fear (Wales), Phil Connett (Wales)
Television match official: Huw Lewis (Wales)