Head Coach Dai Flanagan will assess his squad options before the New Year’s Day trip to Scarlets – with Dragons RFC in the middle of a busy festive schedule.
The Men of Gwent head west to Parc y Scarlets to kick-off 2023 on Sunday (kick-off 5.15pm) as they look to bounce back from last-gasp derby disappointment to Cardiff Rugby.
Dragons go to Llanelli and then back to Newport for a Friday night date with Vodacom Bulls on January 6 - a busy run of three games in 12 days.
With a six-day turnaround to Scarlets and then five days to prepare for the South Africans, Flanagan acknowledges it is vital selection calls are right to keep the team fresh.
“We’ve got another six-day turnaround. We’ve somehow ended up with a lot of them and it’s really difficult to prepare when bodies are sore after physical games,” said Flanagan.
“Off the back of a six-day turnaround we have a five-day turnaround to the Bulls game. I’m not sure whether that’s happened before but that’s life and we’ve got to get on with it.
“We have a changing room full of tough boys who will be ready," he added.
"Ideally you wouldn’t want to change too many between derby games and the Bulls, but realistically when you have that short a turnaround there will be players that won’t be able to back it up.
“There are a couple of niggles ahead of Sunday, while concussion will wipe out a player. Hopefully we’ll have a couple of players back as well.
“We’ve got a good squad and they played a lot of rugby in South Africa for a reason; they are ready when needed and I will trust anybody that we put in.”
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We’ve got a good squad and they played a lot of rugby in South Africa for a reason; they are ready when needed and I will trust anybody that we put in...
