Dragons skipper Colin Charvis is named in the squad following his return from the Rugby World Cup while Martyn Thomas (hand) and Ashley Smith (knee) are also fit and included, however, their fitness will be monitored in training this week. Richard Mustoe has recovered from his injury he sustained against Ulster. However, Gareth Maule (shoulder) and Andy Williams (knee) are both ruled out through injury.
“We have not beaten Edinburgh at Murrayfield in the Magners League,” said Head Coach Paul Turner. “However, the team put in a big performance last weekend to get the result against Ulster and get our Magners League campaign back on track. We need to gather some momentum as we approach the EDF Energy Cup and also our Heineken Cup campaign and the Magners League allows us to do that. Our away form needs to improve, quite simply we need to start winning away, we have won one from two this year but in past seasons it has been poor. There is no reason for us not to perform away from home and if we show the same commitment, desire and passion as we did last Saturday then we have every chance of securing the win.”
Dragons prop Jamie Corsi is recovering from his back injury which he sustained on the Welsh tour over the summer, however, he is making good progress and should be fit for the start of The Dragons EDF Energy cup campaign.
Colin Charvis takes over as skipper for the region this season and looking ahead to Edinburgh said, “It is really good to be back and there is a lot of excitement in the team leading into the game for Friday night. The team is happy with the win last weekend and we can feel as though there is an upward trend although we realise that Edinburgh have been good at home so far this season so things will be quite hard for us. Training has gone well this week and it has been a good week, the international players have slotted back in with everyone else and there is real competition for places. With only one long term injury there have been numbers on the training paddock and there is lots of pressure on the squad to perform in training and on the field and the responsibility lies with those who are going up to Edinburgh but we should do well.”
Gareth Wyatt got The Dragons on the road to their win last weekend as he scored the opening try. He commented, “The win last weekend has given the whole squad a boost and we needed that win to show that what we did against the Scarlets wasn’t a one off and we are capable of playing for the full 80 minutes. The challenge now is to replicate that on Friday night, Edinburgh have won five of the last six games against us and Murrayfield is a tricky place to go and play. They had a lot of disruption over the summer but in Andy Robinson have a world class coach and are only one place behind us in the league, it is going to be a real battle.”
Luke Charteris wrapped up the win for the home side last weekend when he went over for the final try of the game. “We needed that win against Ulster to not only give the squad a boost but also to get our league campaign back on the road. All the squad were frustrated with recent results but from that win confidence has grown. Edinburgh are a tough side to play against on their own back yard and our record against them has been far from good. We need to start generating momentum not only for the EDF Energy Cup campaign but also in the Magners League as we look to improve on our current sixth position.”
Dragons Squad
Kevin Morgan, Martyn Thomas, Gareth Wyatt, Ashley Smith, Rhodri Gomer Davies, Phil Dollman, Richard Mustoe, Aled Thomas, Ceri Sweeney, Wayne Evans, Alex Walker, Adam Black, Hugh Gustafson, Steve Jones, Ben Daly, Rhys Thomas, Luke Charteris, Andy Hall, Michael Owen, Colin Charvis, Jamie Ringer, Dan Lydiate, Joe Bearman, Richard Parks.
