Dragons to deliver 'huge performance'
Thu, 21 Aug 2008 18:03
Newport Gwent Dragons coach Paul Turner is looking for a huge performance from his charges when they face Saracens in a pre-season outing at Rodney Parade, Newport, on Friday.
Turner wants his team to emulate the success of the Dragons' last game at Rodney Parade - when they beat the Magners League champions Leinster last season.
"It will be good to be back at Rodney Parade," Paul said.
"The fans always demand for us to win our matches at home. It's not always possible but the final whistle against Leinster proved to me again that if you can win games the fans will adore you."
He added: "We need to gel together quickly as a team. The match against Bedford looked like our first match of the season and we got caught cold. We need a better performance against Saracens tomorrow [Friday] for ourselves and our fans."
New Dragons hooker Tom Willis will captain the squad for the first time on the Men of Gwent's home turf.
Newport Gwent Dragons: 15 Ashley Smith, 14 Gareth Maule, 13 Rory Sidey, 12 Marc Stcherbina, 11 Richard Fussell, 10 James Arlidge, 9 Wayne Evans, 8 Lewis Evans, 7 James Harris, 6 Joe Bearman, 5 Luke Charteris, 4 Adam Jones, 3 Rhys Thomas, 2 Tom Willis (captain), 1 Adam Black.
Replacements: 16 Lloyd Burns, 17 Lee Harrison/ Hugh Gustafson, 18 Adam Brown, 19 Jamie Ringer/ Richard Parks/ Grant Webb, 20 Phil Dollman, 21 Jason Tovey, 22 Rob Lewis.
Date: Friday, August 22
Venue: Rodney Parade, Newport
Kick-off: 19.30 (18.30 GMT)
Referee: Tim Hayes
Touch judges: Neil Perkins, Peter Mortimer
