Determined to lift their performance level from last week, Ulster enter the Dragons’ lair with a clear aim to maintain their winning form and climb above second-placed Leinster in Conference B of the GUINNESS PRO14.
GUINNESS PRO14: Friday, December 1
DRAGONS (6th, Con B) v ULSTER (3rd, Con B), Rodney Parade, 7.35pm (live BBC 2 Northern Ireland/TG4/BBC 2 Wales)
Team News: Abbey Insurance Academy back rower Greg Jones and South African prop Schalk van der Merwe will start for Ulster for the first time after being selected to face the Dragons at Rodney Parade tonight.
Jones and van der Merwe made their debuts as replacements during last Friday night’s narrow GUINNESS PRO14 win over Benetton Rugby in Belfast. Ireland internationals Rory Best, Stuart McCloskey and Sean Reidy return to the squad after helping Ireland to a GUINNESS Series clean sweep this month, with the latter two selected in Les Kiss’ starting XV.
Paul Marshall, who won his 200th Ulster cap last weekend, will start at scrum half, while Christian Lealiifano reverts from inside centre to out-half and retains the captaincy duties.
McCloskey will be partnered by the versatile Tommy Bowe in midfield, and Craig Gilroy, Louis Ludik and Charles Piutau will form a potent back-three combination in Newport.
The only change in the front five sees van der Merwe included, as John Andrew, Ross Kane, Alan O’Connor and Ireland international Kieran Treadwell retain their starting places. Jones and Reidy will join Ireland Sevens international Nick Timoney in the back row.
Chris Henry has recovered from injury to take his place on the bench alongside fellow forwards Best, Callum Black, Andrew Warwick and Matthew Dalton, one of the new caps last Friday. John Cooney, Peter Nelson and Andrew Trimble complete the matchday 23.
Meanwhile, Dragons head coach Bernard Jackman has named his team for their second clash of the season with Ulster, making three changes to the side that was beaten 54-10 by Leinster last weekend.
The men of Gwent return to Rodney Parade following a lengthy stretch of away games, seeing the side play their first of five home games in the month of December in Newport. The back-three remain unchanged with Angus O’Brien retained at full-backs and Ashton Hewitt and Jared Rosser on the wings.
The centre pairing of Adam Warren and Jack Dixon get another outing together in midfield, while the vastly-experienced Gavin Henson is joined by 17-year-old Dan Babos at half-back in the only back-line change. Last week in Dublin, Babos became the first player born in the year 2000 to play in the PRO14.
Brok Harris returns to the front row and is joined by hooker Liam Belcher, who makes his first PRO14 start in a Dragons jersey, with Lloyd Fairbrother continuing at tighthead. The second row sees Joe Davies, who recently signed an extension with the Welsh region, paired with Matthew Screech again and flanker Ollie Griffiths captains the side from an unchanged back row.
DRAGONS: Angus O’Brien; Ashton Hewitt, Adam Warren, Jack Dixon, Jared Rosser; Gavin Henson, Dan Babos; Brok Harris, Liam Belcher, Lloyd Fairbrother, Joe Davies, Matthew Screech, Aaron Wainwright, Ollie Griffiths (capt), James Benjamin.
Replacements: Ellis Shipp, Gerard Ellis, Sam Hobbs, Rynard Landman, Ben Roach, Charlie Davies, Arwel Robson, Pat Howard.
ULSTER: Charles Piutau; Craig Gilroy, Tommy Bowe, Stuart McCloskey, Louis Ludik; Christian Lealiifano (capt), Paul Marshall; Schalk van der Merwe, John Andrew, Ross Kane, Alan O’Connor, Kieran Treadwell, Greg Jones, Sean Reidy, Nick Timoney.
Replacements: Rory Best, Callum Black, Andrew Warwick, Matthew Dalton, Chris Henry, John Cooney, Peter Nelson, Andrew Trimble.
Referee: Marius Mitrea (Italy)
Assistant Referees: Rhys Thomas, Mike English (both Wales)
Television Match Official: Tim Hayes (Wales)
Match Odds (Paddy Power): Dragons to win: 11/4; Draw: 19/1; Ulster to win: 3/10
Pre-Match Quotes: Dwayne Peel (Ulster) – “Rodney Parade is an extremely difficult place to go. First and foremost, they are a proud region and that shows in their displays, particularly at home. They’ve mixed and matched their teams, week in and out really, but they have relied on some good home form.
“They have invested in a lot of youth over the last couple of years and you can see it coming to the fore this year. They also have Gavin Henson is giving them a bit of direction at 10 and leading them around the park pretty well.
“Being taken over by the Welsh Union over the last couple of months has injected a bit of interest and buzz, and I think that signing is a huge for them. Ross Moriarty is a British & Irish Lion and a fantastic player. He will certainly add a lot to the environment.
“The execution of many things has let us down (in recent games). We have been making a lot of line-breaks and it is about executing beyond that. Our kicking game in the second half last week wasn’t what we would expect – we had three or four kicks on the spin which put us under a bit of pressure.
“I think if we had managed to execute a bit better, we would have applied more pressure on Benetton, instead of taking pressure, which we did do in the second half. But credit to Benetton, they kept us in our own half and it was our inability to exit that put the pressure on us.
“We’ve got to accept that we are happy with the four points given that we did blood a few youngsters as well. They stepped up really well for us. It is encouraging to see some of the Academy products coming through, Aaron Hall, Matty Dalton and Greg Jones all made their debuts against Benetton.
“Having said that, it will be good to welcome back a couple of our more experienced internationals for this game. The Dragons will probably be missing a few, but they will be tough and be dogged, especially at home.”
Bernard Jackman (Dragons) – “We’re obviously sore after what was a difficult night in Ireland and we’ve challenged each other to be better and the response we’ve seen this week so far has been really positive. Now we have to make sure we get to the right pitch emotionally to perform against Ulster on Friday night.
“It’s the second time we’ve gone against the same opposition this season, against Leinster we didn’t right the wrongs, but we have a chance to correct it this week and show we are a far better side than we were when we played Ulster away from home.
“We have played young teams away from home for different reasons, early season that might have been to give players a S&C (strength and conditioning) focus for the week. In the case of players like Elliot, Leon, Cory, Tyler and Hallam that hopefully helped them get into Wales squad which is what we want to do and will also hopefully help us get wins back end of the season when they are stronger and fitter.
“It has also allowed us to give game-time at the highest level to other players. This season I had to give everyone a fair crack and when we look at the end of the season and see how much game-time everyone had and the composition of our squad for next year, I don’t think anybody will be able to say they didn’t have sufficient game-time to prove their point and that’s all you can do – give players sufficient opportunities and they either take them or they don’t.”
Top Scorers – 2017/18 GUINNESS PRO14: Dragons – Points: Gavin Henson 65; Tries: Elliot Dee 5; Ulster – Points: John Cooney 65; Tries: Andrew Trimble 5
2017/18 TEAM FORM: Dragons – Played 8, Won 2, Lost 6, 10 Points; L 39-16 v Leinster (home), L 35-18 v Edinburgh (away), W 21-8 v Connacht (home), L 52-25 v Ulster (away), W 29-13 v Southern Kings (home), L 43-29 v Cardiff Blues (away), L 28-14 v Ospreys (away), L 49-6 v Munster (away), L 54-10 v Leinster (away); Ulster – Played 9, Won 7, Lost 2, 32 Points; W 42-19 v Toyota Cheetahs (home), W 21-14 v Benetton Rugby (away), W 27-20 v Scarlets (home), W 52-25 v Dragons (home), L 27-23 v Zebre (away), W 16-8 v Connacht (home), L 25-10 v Leinster (home), W 43-36 v Southern Kings (away), W 23-22 v Benetton Rugby (home)
RECENT LEAGUE MEETINGS:
Saturday, March 8, 2015 – Dragons 26 Ulster 22, Rodney Parade
Sunday, November 8, 2015 – Dragons 12 Ulster 19, Rodney Parade
Friday, February 5, 2016 – Ulster 17 Dragons 15, Kingspan Stadium
Friday, September 2, 2016 – Ulster 29 Dragons 8, Kingspan Stadium
Friday, March 24, 2017 – Dragons 17 Ulster 27, Rodney Parade
Friday, September 22, 2017 – Ulster 52 Dragons 25, Kingspan Stadium
MATCH FACTS:
– The Dragons have lost their last four matches in the GUINNESS PRO14 (all away from home) since beating the Southern Kings at Rodney Parade on September 30
– The Dragons have won their last three matches in Newport in all competitions since their reversal there to Leinster on the opening weekend of the season
– Ulster’s only defeat in the last four rounds of the PRO14 was 25-10 at home to Leinster on October 28
– Ulster have won twice away from home in the Championship this season, in Treviso in round 2 and in Port Elizabeth in round 8
– Ulster have won their last five fixtures with the Dragons, including a 52-25 victory in Belfast in September
– The Ulstermen have won on their last two visits to Rodney Parade
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