dragons team is strong but we have the stronger bench for sure, i'm predicting Coulson will be a gem of a player for us and really looking forward to see how he goes tomorrow.

we needed Jake back as he is a nuisance at the breakdown, our second row is'nt particularily mobile so we could get stretched defensively if we play too loose. KK isn't afraid of mixing things up with players interchanging.

weather looks fine for tomorrow evening and in any case they have a new Desso hybrid pitch so at least teams no longer have to contend with a waterlogged pitch.

Here's hoping Henson has a mare tomorrow evening

Looking forward to seeing how thornbury plays. It's unusual to see such an amount of rotation. Under pats regime if the first choice players were fit then they started. Kk obviously does things differently and to honest i think he may be right. We will find out tomorrow.

Accidentally Onside wrote: Would prefer if Pretorius was back after this game, big player for them

He was unreal in one of the games against us last year but IIRC he wasn't particularly highly thought of up until that point.

Would prefer if Pretorius was back after this game, big player for them

There is live coverage of this match on Galway Bay FM with Rob Murphy and William Davies from the Craggy Crew on commentary.

HOWEVER, it is clashing with the Galway United match, so the ONLY place to get uninterrupted coverage is on the live stream on galwaybayfm.ie.

The stream will go live on the Sport section of website about 20 minutes before kickoff- GBFM Sports .

Linley Mackenzie will join the lads for a preview of the match about 15 minutes before kick-off.

If you want to fire off some questions for the Crew to answer during the match, or in the podcast that will follow, you can catch them on Twitter, @craggyrugbypod , on Facebook, @craggyrugby or via email craggyrugby@gmail.com.

Craggy Rugby

I really like this team and what I hope is that after the weekend that we can say yes we are a stronger squad and that we now have viable alternatives to our first 15. it's great that we know that we don't have to flog Jake to death or we can manage him in a productive way hopefully with Coulson and McCabe that will be the same re Denis.

RonanL wrote: The Scholes/Leader doppelginger affect is going to be too much for the Dragons. I'm hopeful.

Would you say the dragons defense will be seeing double???

The Scholes/Leader doppelginger affect is going to be too much for the Dragons. I'm hopeful.

Great to see them mixing it up. Really excited to find out how Thornbury, Scholes, Coulson and McCabe get on. Blade looked really sharp when he came on against the Kings, this could be a massive season for him. We've got some options in the back row now, considering Connolly, Daiwa, McKeon and O'Brien aren't there. Such a shame it's not being shown anywhere.

We should have a real aerial threat on the wings now with both Leader and Scholes there.

That back 3 could do serious damage if given space. Would like Buckley Bealham or Dillane in the bench, but hoping Thornburry has a good debut

(15-9) Tiernan O’Halloran, Darragh Leader, Tom Farrell, Bundee Aki, Rory Scholes, Jack Carty, Caolin Blade,

Denis Coulson, Tom McCartney, Conor Carey, Quinn Roux, James Cannon, Eoghan Masterson, Jake Heenan, John Muldoon.

Replacements (16-23): Dave Heffernan, Peter McCabe, Dominic Robertson-McCoy, Gavin Thornbury, Jarrad Butler, Kieran Marmion, Steve Crosbie, Eoin Griffin.


Dragons team to face Connacht

15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Ashton Hewitt, 13 Tyler Morgan, 12 Jack Dixon, 11 Hallam Amos, 10 Gavin Henson, 9 Sarel Pretorius; 1 Brok Harris, 2 Elliot Dee, 3 Leon Brown, 4 Rynard Landman, 5 Cory Hill ©, 6 Harrison Keddie, 7 Ollie Griffiths, 8 James Benjamin.

Replacements: Gerard Ellis, Thomas Davies, Lloyd Fairbrother, Matthew Screech, Robson Blake, Owain Leonard, Dorian Jones, Jared Rosser.