Connacht are on their travels for the first time in this season’s GUINNESS PRO14, lining out against Bernard Jackman’s Dragons on the new Rodney Parade pitch as they target back-to-back wins.
GUINNESS PRO14: Friday, September 15
DRAGONS (6th, Con B) v CONNACHT (3rd, Con A), Rodney Parade, 7.30pm (live Galway Bay FM)
Team News: Head coach Kieran Keane has made seven changes to the Connacht side that secured a bonus point win over the Southern Kings last week as the province travel to Rodney Parade to take on the Dragons.
Rory Scholes, Caolin Blade, Denis Coulson, Conor Carey, Quinn Roux and Jake Heenan all come into the team for their first starts of the season, while back rower Eoghan Masterson gets the nod for his second start.
Scholes will make his competitive debut for the province on the left wing in place of Matt Healy. Blade is included in the side at scrum half as Ireland international Kieran Marmion drops to the replacements bench.
The other five changes are in the pack with two alterations in the front row. Coulson makes his first start for Connacht at loosehead prop after coming off the bench to make his debut in the Kings game, with Carey starting at tighthead prop.
Ireland international Roux and Heenan are also brought in for their first starts of the new GUINNESS PRO14 campaign. Roux combining with James Cannon in the second row and Heenan slotting in at openside flanker.. Masterson, a try-scorer off the bench in round 2, replaces the injured Sean O’Brien on the blindside.
With six points from two home games, Connacht are on the road for the first time this season in Wales and assistant coach Nigel Carolan is not underestimating the challenge posed by Bernard Jackman’s Dragons squad.
Speaking to the media earlier this week, Carolan said: “Bernard Jackman is trying to rebuild the Dragons and create a strong identity, much like he did in Grenoble. They will be a tight-knit group and very difficult to play against.
“They have some real firepower with Ashton Hewitt, Zane Kirchner, and the boot of Gavin Henson. It is going to be a very difficult game for us and we have to make sure we build on last week and are more effective than we were against the Kings.”
Meanwhile, the winless Dragons have had a double boost for their match against Connacht as Wales international Ollie Griffiths returns along with South African scrum half Sarel Pretorius.
The young flanker will make his first appearance of the season for the region following his Wales debut against Tonga in June. Dragons forwards coach Ceri Jones is looking forward to Griffiths’ return, saying: “Ollie was outstanding last year for us so to have him back in the mix is great. We just want him to put consistent performances in for us, then it’s down to the Welsh selectors to have a look at him.
“If you look at Ollie as an athlete, I think there are not many better than him in Wales. It would be a huge challenge for him taking that step up to international rugby but I feel he is ready for it. I like Ollie a lot as a player and a person.”
Including Pretorius and Griffiths, Dragons head coach Bernard Jackman has made three personnel changes and two positional switches to the team that lost 35-18 to Edinburgh at Myreside.
With no changes made to the back-three, it is Jack Dixon who joins Tyler Morgan in the centre. The half-backs also have one change as out-half Gavin Henson is joined by Pretorius.
Both the front row and second row are unchanged, however the back row sees Harrison Keddie swap places with James Benjamin, as he moves to blindside flanker and Benjamin is stationed at number 8. Gerard Ellis and Robson are set to make their first PRO14 appearances off the bench.
DRAGONS: Zane Kirchner; Ashton Hewitt, Tyler Morgan, Jack Dixon, Hallam Amos; Gavin Henson, Sarel Pretorius; Brok Harris, Elliot Dee, Leon Brown, Rynard Landman, Cory Hill (capt), Harrison Keddie, Ollie Griffiths, James Benjamin.
Replacements: Gerard Ellis, Thomas Davies, Lloyd Fairbrother, Matthew Screech, Robson Blake, Owain Leonard, Dorian Jones, Jared Rosser.
CONNACHT: Tiernan O’Halloran; Darragh Leader, Tom Farrell, Bundee Aki, Rory Scholes; Jack Carty, Caolin Blade; Denis Coulson, Tom McCartney, Conor Carey, Quinn Roux, James Cannon, Eoghan Masterson, Jake Heenan, John Muldoon (capt).
Replacements: Dave Heffernan, Peter McCabe, Dominic Robertson-McCoy, Gavin Thornbury, Jarrad Butler, Kieran Marmion, Steve Crosbie, Eoin Griffin.
Referee: Quinton Immelman (South Africa)
Assistant Referees: Craig Evans, Rhys Thomas (both Wales)
Match Odds (Paddy Power): Dragons to win: 8/13; Draw: 16/1; Connacht to win: 7/5
Pre-Match Quotes: John Muldoon (Connacht) – “We are delighted to get our first win of the season. The main thing was to get that victory after losing our first game. We were very disappointed with the result and performance against Glasgow, especially considering it was in the Sportsground.
“We just didn’t control the game well enough in round 1 and weren’t physical enough. Ultimately, the team which handled the conditions won the game. We were still disappointed with some of the stuff we did against the Kings last Saturday too and we know we will have to improve for the Dragons.
“I know Bernard Jackman for a long time, we played together for a while. Back in the day, one of my first memories of rugby would be ‘Berch’ coming out to coach the school in Portumna in 1997 or ’98. He was playing here in Connacht at the time; he had a period away playing in Sale and came back again here after. When he was here in his second stint, I played with him before he went to Leinster.
“Berch had a couple of good years over in Grenoble in the Top 14 and it’s a new chance and opportunity for him in charge of the Dragons in Wales. They have two defeats in the two weeks but Leinster is always a tough game, no matter where you play them, and Edinburgh was a hard one away from home too.
“They are a bit like us here in Connacht, getting used to a new coach and a new way of doing things at the moment. I’m sure they are working really hard and this is a chance for them to get their first win on the board. But we need to look after ourselves and get our stuff right.
“Defensively, we have to be better than we were against the Kings in round 2. We need to iron out things in attack too. And while we will paying the utmost respect to the Dragons, it’s all about getting our own things right at the moment.
“There will be a big onus on our ‘D’ to get things right, but also on our attack to build on what we did last weekend and put them under the pressure. That’s what Leinster and Edinburgh did. They put them under a lot of pressure and worked the Dragons defence hard.”
Top Scorers – 2017/18 GUINNESS PRO14: Dragons – Points: Gavin Henson 27; Tries: -; Connacht – Points: Jack Carty 24; Tries: Tom Farrell, Eoghan Masterson, Ultan Dillane, Darragh Leader 1 each
2017/18 TEAM FORM: Dragons – Played 2, Lost 2, 0 Points; L 39-16 v Leinster (home), L 35-18 v Edinburgh (away); Connacht – Played 2, Won 1, Lost 1, 6 Points; L 18-12 v Glasgow Warriors (home), W 32-10 v Southern Kings (home)
RECENT LEAGUE MEETINGS:
Saturday, September 6, 2014 – Connacht 16 Dragons 11, the Sportsground
Sunday, February 22, 2015 – Dragons 25 Connacht 30, Rodney Parade
Friday, September 4, 2015 – Connacht 29 Dragons 23, the Sportsground
Thursday, February 11, 2016 – Dragons 21 Connacht 26, Rodney Parade
Friday, November 4, 2016 – Dragons 21 Connacht 16, Rodney Parade
Saturday, February 18, 2017 – Connacht 14 Dragons 9, the Sportsground
MATCH FACTS:
– The Dragons’ only victory in their last fifteen GUINNESS PRO14 matches was 26-8 at home to Benetton Rugby last January
– The Welsh region’s most recent success at Rodney Parade was 34-10 against Russian outfit Enisei in round 5 of last season’s Challenge Cup in January
– The Dragons’ last win over an Irish province was against this week’s opponents, Connacht, in Newport in round 8 last season
– Connacht’s triumph over the Southern Kings last Saturday ended a run of five straight defeats in the PRO14
– The westerners’ only away victory in the last four rounds was in Edinburgh on April 7
– Connacht won on their most recent visit to Wales, beating the Blues 19-13 in Cardiff in February
– Connacht’s only loss in their last nine encounters with the Dragons was at Rodney Parade on November 4, 2016
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