Following his recovery from 2 serious leg breaks, Dragons fullback Martyn Thomas will be looking to make an impact from the bench as the Men of Gwent take on Russia in the region’s first match against a national side tomorrow (Tuesday, 7pm.) The Dragons fullback has been in an intensive rehab programme over the summer following surgery to repair the second of 2 leg breaks.
Martyn’s one of several players that were injured or who underwent surgery at the end of last season,” said Dragons Head Coach Darren Edwards. “He has worked really hard this summer and I’m confident that he will get straight back into things tomorrow. We’re fortunate that we're picking from, more or less, a full-strength squad with is a great situation to be in.
“We've got a number of young players that have been brought through into our senior squad from last season and we'll be capitalising on their experience. Following a strong finish to last season, we are concentrating on out consistency and developing our squad of home-grown players into a cohesive unit.
Dragons scrum half Joe Bedford and number 8 Tom Brown will be the first new faces to step out at Rodney Parade whilst an expanded bench sees Rhys Buckley and Darren Waters also looking to make their debuts for the Dragons
“This match is a great opportunity for our younger players, as well as our new signings, to get out and show what they can do. It’s something I always love about the pre-season friendly – bringing new faces into our match day environment and integrate them into the way we play the game.
“Tomorrow’s game will be a tough challenge. I watched Russian the Churchill Cup and they made a decent account of themselves there. We mustn’t forget that they are preparing for a World Cup so any Russian player will be staking his claim for a place so I think it's going to be a hard-fought contest.
Both teams will be playing with an expanded bench and rolling substitutions.
Dragons squad for Russia (Rodney Parade Tuesday 16th August, 7pm)
15. Steffan Jones, 14. Matthew Pewtner, 13. Tom Riley, 12. Ashley Smith, 11. Michael Poole, 10. Jason Tovey, 9. Joe Bedford
1. Phil Price, 2. Tom Willis, 3. Ben Castle, 4. Adam Jones, 5. Scott Morgan, 6. Jevon Groves, 7. Gavin Thomas, 8. Tom Brown
Replacements
Aaron Coundley, Rhys Buckley, Dan Way, Hugo Ellis, Andrew Coombs, , Darren Waters, Wayne Evans, Matthew Jones, Patrick Leach, Adam Hughes, Martyn Thomas
