It’s Family Fun Day on Sunday at Rodney Parade as Newport Gwent Dragons have arranged a host of free activities for all the family as a curtain raiser before they face Glasgow in a Celtic League encounter.
Commencing at 11am the club has arranged face painters, a gladiators duel, rodeo bull, stilt walker, rugby skills training, fairground rides and a Red Dragon DJ. “The Family Fun Day’s have always proved popular in the past and have attracted over 4,000 people,” commented Chief Executive David Jenkins. “This year we decided to coincide the fun day with a match and encourage all the family to experience match day at Rodney Parade. There is a unique family atmosphere at the club and we want to build on this and encourage more families to watch rugby. Through the Family Fun Day we want to highlight that it is not just an 80 minute match that we are offering but hours of fun in a safe environment.”
Special ticket prices are available for the Glasgow game. A family of 2 can watch the game for £10 whilst a family of 4 can watch the Dragons in action for £20. With only Michael Owen and Neil Edwards unavailable for selection due to injury the Dragons have virtually a full strength squad to select from. In the backs Brett Davey starts at fullback with Ben Breeze reverting to wing, Nathan Brew switches from centre to wing leaving Steve Winn to partner captain Andy Marinos in the centre. Craig Warlow remains at fly half whilst Gareth Baber starts at scrumhalf.
There are no changes in the forwards but Paul Young has recovered from a rib injury to come in on the replacements bench and prop Rhys Thomas is also named among the replacements. The last Dragons home game resulted in a victory for the home side and they are hoping for the same result this Sunday.
“We expect Glasgow to be a very difficult game. They are a strong side who have proved they are capable of taking their form on the road and playing away from home. It is up to us to go out and perform in front of our home crowd. It is time we repaid the faith the supporters have put in us.”
Dragons Team
Brett Davey, Nathan Brew, Andy Marinos (c), Steve Winn, Ben Breeze, Craig Warlow, Gareth Baber, Adam Black, Steve Jones, Chris Anthony, Ian Gough, Peter Sidoli, Rhys Oakley, Jason Forster, Shawn Van Rensburg
Replacements From Rhys Thomas, Paul Young, Luke Charteris, Jamie Ringer, Gerald Arasa, Lee Jarvis, Rhodri Jones
