Connacht's strong start to continue

PRO12 Connacht v Dragons:ALTHOUGH DEFEATED last weekend in Edinburgh with a losing bonus point, Connacht have lost just once in their last eight games at the Sportsground. That was to Cardiff back in April while Dragons haven't won on the road since their win over Aironi back in February.

That would suggest the Welsh side have a bigger problem than Connacht, who have started the league strongly this season.

Eric Elwood has made five changes to the home side. In the pack Ray Ofisa, Dave Gannon and Brett Wilkinson come into the back, second and frontrows respectively while Brian Tuohy replaces Mark McCrea on the wing with scrumhalf Frank Murphy partnering Ulsterman Niall O’Connor, who crossed for his debut Connacht try last week in Scotland.

Dragons arrive with some injury concerns, which gives Pontypool utility back Geraint O’Driscoll the opportunity to pull on a Dragons shirt for the first time. The men of Gwent are looking to secure their first win in Connacht since 2004 and the return of centre Ashley Smith will add to their hopes of breaking that unwanted record.

“Having Ashley Smith back is obviously great for us and I trust that our players are good enough to pull off a strong performance despite the fact there will be a couple of newer faces, a few players out of position,” said coach Darren Edwards, who has named a 26-man squad for the journey west. That probably says it all for Elwood to draw some comfort.

DRAGONS(squad): W Evans, J Bedford, J Evans, J Tovey, M Jones, A Smith, G O'Driscoll, P Leach, T Riley, M Pewtner, M Thomas, P Price, N Williams, D Way, N Buck, T Willis, R Buckley, A Jones, R Sidoli, A Coombs, G Thomas, J Groves, L Evans, D Waters, S Parry, H Ellis.

CONNACHT: G Duffy; B Tuohy, E Griffin, H Fa'afili, T O'Halloran; N O'Connor, F Murphy; B Wilkinson, E Revnecke, R Ah You; D Gannon, M McCarthy; J Muldoon, J O'Connor, R Ofisa. Replacements: A Flavin, R Loughney, D Rogers, M Kearney, TJ Anderson, P O'Donoghue, M Jarvis, J Loxton.

Referee: L Hodges(WRU).

Verdict: Home win.