Munster Men Step Into The Dragons Den

The Dragons welcome Munster to Rodney Parade on Saturday for Round 3 of the Heineken Cup and with a number of injuries have named a 27-man squad ahead of the game.

Kath McCarthy | 07/12/2005

The Dragons welcome Michael Owen and Ceri Sweeney back into the squad for Saturday’s match. Sweeney sat out last weekend’s match following an injection in his groin and has recommenced training this week while Owen fresh from beating Australia with Wales is named in the squad.

7,000 tickets for this match have been sold with 3,000 to Munster supporters so Rodney Parade is braced for an Irish Invasion. Match tickets are still on general sale –available from the Rodney Parade ticket office 01633 674990. The ground is set to be very busy on Saturday and with an early kick off supporters are urged to purchase their ticket before match day to avoid the last minute rush and also to take advantage of the advance match ticket prices. Road closures will also be in operation with Grafton Road and Rodney Road closed from 11am until 30 minutes after the final whistle.

The Dragons need to beat Munster to keep their Heineken Cup dreams alive and face a monumental challenge over the next week having to face the Heineken Cup giants in back-to-back fixtures. The home side now need a four-try, bonus point, victory over

"It's a tough challenge, for the whole squad having to take on Munster in back to back games," said coach Paul Turner "especially with the amount of injuries we have. However, that is the challenge before us and we just have to get on with it and back ourselves and whatever happens is in our own hands. "

The Dragons have called Wales 7s player and Newport club player Gareth Chapman into the squad along with development player Aled Thomas. The Dragons and Munster have met on four occasions all in the Celtic League competition with two wins apiece, (29-6 and 6-16 to The Dragons and 25-16, 8-24 to Munster last season).

Turner added: "Munster are a very impressive side and currently are top of the league. They have a big pack of forwards who like to control things up front and a very impressive lineout that likes to challenge on the opposition ball. Munster have a special aura about them in the Heineken Cup, they have huge travelling support and it is a competition they are desperate to win. The forward battle will be of the utmost importance and the backs have to take any opportunity that presents itself. Infact we have to take any chance that comes our way against Munster as they are a formidable team.”

The Dragons looked impressive in their win over Worcester with the forwards in particular impressing and getting on the front foot and with Owen back into the squad he will add confidence to the pack after being involved in Wales’ Autumn series.

"We created chances against Worcester,” continued Turner, “but we didn’t finish them off and then played some high risk stuff when there was no need to and there is room for improvement. "It's a big game for us all, but we're up for it and determined to put on a performance for the thousands of fans who will be at Rodney Parade. There will be a tremendous atmosphere at the ground and at one stage it looked like we were going to be overrun by Munster supporters, however, there will be a large number of Dragons supporters at the game and for those in the Region who have not yet purchased a ticket I would urge them to make sure they are at Rodney Parade on Saturday to shout us on and I can ensure fans it will be a lot more exciting than Christmas shopping!”

Dragons Squad
Kevin Morgan, Aled Thomas, Leigh Hinton, Gareth Chapman, Sione Tuipulotu, Hal Luscombe, Jon Bryant, Ceri Sweeney, Richard Fussell, Ben Breeze, Craig Warlow, Gareth Cooper, Gareth Baber, Adam Black, David Maddocks, Steven Jones, Andrew Brown, Rhys Thomas, Gethin Robinson, Ian Gough, Peter Sidoli, Luke Charteris, Andrew Hall, Richard Bryan, Michael Owen, Jamie Ringer, Jason Forster.

Injury Update
The Dragons are without top Heineken Cup try scorer Gareth Wyatt who dislocated his elbow in the Dragons Powergen Cup win over Worcester. Wyatt has had x-rays which revealed he suffered bone damage and he will be out for two months.
Kevin Morgan is struggling to recover from an ankle injury that he sustained during the Welsh Internationals and is more likely to be fit for next week’s return trip to Munster. Hal Luscombe is waiting for clearance from his surgeon that he is available to play but it is more likely that he will play next weekend. Ceri Sweeney and Luke Charteris have both recommenced training after a groin injection and calf injury respectively. Meanwhile Captain Jason Forster is also struggling with a groin injury. Final decisions on all of these players will be made towards the end of the week with the team announced on Friday.