Newport Gwent Dragons v Edinburgh - Build-up, teams, banter & live match day thread

[George Carlin]

First topic message reminder :

At the Parade of the Dave, 7pm.
Referee: John Lacey (IRFU, 23rd competition game)
Assistant Referees: James Jones, Simon Rees (both WRU)
Citing Commissioner: Gwyn Bowden (WRU)

Teams:

Dragons:

Dan Evans
Adam Hughes
Pat Leach
Andy Tuilagi
Tom Prydie
Steffan Jones
Jonathan Evans

Toby Faletau
Lewis Evans (c)
Dan Lydiate
Adam Jones
Ian Nimmo
Dan Way
Steve Jones
Phil Price.

Substitutes:
Sam Parry
Aaron Coundley
Nathan Buck
Jevon Groves
Tom Brown
Liam Davies (Bedwas)
Ashley Smith
Will Harries

Players not selected through injury:
Joe Bedford (Shoulder)
Tonderai Chavhanga (Knee)
Jamie Smith (Ankle)
Dan Watchurst (Leg break)
Darren Waters (Knee)
Rob Sidoli (Calf)
Andrew Coombes (Knee)
Mike Poole (Knee)
Wayne Evans (Back).

Edinburgh

15 Greig Tonks

14 Tom Brown
13 Nick De Luca
12 Ben Atiga
11 Tim Visser

10 Harry Leonard
9 Richie Rees

1 Allan Jacobsen
2 Andy Titterrell
3 Geoff Cross
4 Robert McAlpine
5 Sean Cox CAPTAIN
6 Stuart McInally
7 Ross Rennie
8 Netani Talei

Substitutes
16 Alun Walker
17 John Yapp
18 Lewis Niven
19 Dimitri Basilaia
20 Roddy Grant
21 Chris Leck
22 John Houston
23 Dougie Fife

Unavailable though injury:
Ben Cairns (knee)
David Denton (thigh)
Gregor Hunter (pectoral strain)
Steven Lawrie (knee)
Perry Parker (ankle)
Steven Turnbull (knee)

Form:

Dragons have won just one of their last eight matches in the RaboDirect PRO12 (37-6 at home to new franchise Zebre on 31 August) but are unbeaten in their last three games against Scottish opponents.

Edinburgh made a bit of an @rse of it at Leinster on Saturday evening to end a two game winning run. Edinburgh's single away victory in the competition since last November was 21-19 at Cardiff Blues on 7 September.

The Dragons achieved the double over Edinburgh last season, whilst Edinburgh's only victory over them since May 2009 came in April 2011.
Edinburgh's most recent victory at Rodney Parade was way back in May 2006.

Last Five Meetings:

23/03/2012 Edinburgh Rugby 15 29 Newport Gwent Dragons
18/02/2012 Newport Gwent Dragons 21 10 Edinburgh Rugby
22/04/2011 Edinburgh Rugby 27 15 Newport Gwent Dragons
12/02/2011 Newport Gwent Dragons 30 22 Edinburgh Rugby
18/04/2010 Newport Gwent Dragons 49 28 Edinburgh Rugby

[Morgannwg]

Lydiate broken ankle. Knew it was bad. Gutted.

I guess he did need that ankle op afterall... The national team really do flog the players don't they.

[Morgannwg]

Tbh I think the card for taking out Ian from the KO was fair enough. Ok he milked it but it's a dangerous tackle. The other was hard to see. We were also penalised a fair bit and had a yellow so it wasn't all one way.


Luckless, he really is a cracking footballer isn't he. If he performs like this all season he's got to be called up (yea I've said it).

I wonder if Scrum V will mention Steffans 3 drop goals? Doubt it.

No harm in you saying it as he is playing very well. But Leigh Halfpenny, Liam Williams and Tom Prydie are also in conention, so don't be too disheartened if he doesn't get the nod.

[profitius]

Good win for Dragons. Not that surprising because I thought they played well last week against Munster.

[Guest]

Lydiate broken ankle. Knew it was bad. Gutted.

I guess he did need that ankle op afterall... The national team really do flog the players don't they.

I can't say for definite, but it looked like left ankle taped, right ankle broke.

I can't remember why Rennie got carded, but considering the jackalling offences EDI, got away with (not releasing as a tackler and the fact they got warned by the ref (which confused us Dragons supporters as like I said Lacey was very pro EDI first half) I guess it was a tot up offence? Jabba's card was fair (kicked ball out of Rees' hand off the floor), as was whoever took Nimmo out on the kickoff.

Edinburgh made a few decent breaks, but so did a few of us. It was great to see Toby play back to his usual level and great to see the real Tom Brown bump and sit down his man on his first carry. Great to see some pride at home again too.

[GavinDragon]

a win is a win as far as im concerned, but after the number of points we put over in kicks tonight how much more does it make the blues loss more frustrating where we left points on the board?!? If we had won that wed be 3 from 5 and arguably two of the three hardest away matches of the season done with

[Guest]

That's very fair Gav. Tom looked like he made sure of his routine tonight, rather than the casual nature of his easy kick miss v Blues.

[Guest]

"It was a dream end to the half and the Dragons enjoyed a marvellous start to the second, Prydie knocking over a penalty after a stupid trip by Scotland openside Ross Rennie that saw him shown yellow and his side temporarily reduced to 13 men."

Plus like I said, it was Danny's other ankle.

[glamorganalun]

Gutted for Dan not only for the rugby but he is a working farmer with his brother and parents. I wish him all the best and get fit ASAP.

I did not see the game but a good result and as much as I hate drop goals it is good to see a flyhalf that can convert when needed. The next target for the Dragons is an away win.

[RDW]

Got to wonder how much the touch judge actually saw the tackle in the air incident if he suggested a yellow for the wrong guy!

[maestegmafia]

Such a shame for DL.

Despite that what a great win for the dragons

[RDW]

People at the game- how did Atiga look for us? Did he look match fit? Reports say he made some strong breaks...

[Janecory]

People at the game- how did Atiga look for us? Did he look match fit? Reports say he made some strong breaks...

Not the best, didnt look match fit and dont believe the reports.
Only 2 players stood out, De Luca, and Rees who played very well.

[AsLongAsBut100ofUs]

I see that young Farndale broke his leg playing for Accies at the weekend - fES will not be amused

[RDW]

Yeah that's a real shame. Been on form for accies by the sound of things too

[George Carlin]

I see that young Farndale broke his leg playing for Accies at the weekend - fES will not be amused

That is awful news for such a young promising player. Was Lee Jones seen running from the scene with a sledgehammer?

[tigertattie]

was it a good dragons performance or a bad edinburgh performance?

And best wishes to Dan Lydiate, one of Wales' best players imo

[Luckless Pedestrian]

Edinburgh played some good stuff, especially in the second half, but our defence was solid by and large. We weren't brilliant but probably the better side on balance. The difference is that we took points almost every time we got in the Edinburgh half in the second half, either through drop goals or penalties.

[tigertattie]

old coaching saying

"you cannot defend agaisnt a penalty"

silly dicipline errors!

[Guest]

It's annoying, as if we'd done that against a poor Blues side (on the day anyway) and played with that aggression, we'd have three wins now and wouldn't be playing catch up so much already.

[funnyExiledScot]

I see that young Farndale broke his leg playing for Accies at the weekend - fES will not be amused

That is awful news for such a young promising player. Was Lee Jones seen running from the scene with a sledgehammer?

Hugely disappointed about that. This should have been the season in which he started playing pro rugby, and with Jones and Penn looking none too clever at the moment, he had every chance of getting a couple of games this season.

Hopefully the Tonks, Visser and Brown back three can now be given a chance to play together.

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