Anyone got a link?

Connacht Rugby
Change to Connacht bench for Dragons clash:

19 year old back Darragh Leader replaces on injured Matt Healy on the replacements bench. Leader earned his first competitive start for the province last month against Welsh side and defending champions Ospreys

We expect many tweets and updates.

Plus match videos, interviews with the team, match write up and a signed shirt.

swift4prez wrote:

GAME ON!!!

Despite the deluge of rain last night, tonight’s game against Connacht is definitely on!

Rodney Parade Head of Operations Mark Jones said “Our ground staff have worked tirelessly, not just over the last 24 hours but over the last 8 months to improve and protect the playing surface at Rodney Parade. The additional drainage and extensive preparation they have put in has meant that we have been able to cope with torrential rain last night and ensure that tonight’s match goes ahead.”

i was shocked when i saw this and paniced a bit. it was on the dragons twitter, never crossed my mind it could be cancelled.

also yesterday there flight was delayed by 5 hours i think, was didnt leave dublin airport till around 10pm

Yeah didn't really think it through myself, despite sitting watching the rain pelt down outside my office window for most of yesterday...

Anyway, sky is blue today so going to risk a Friday run down the M4 (urgh...), still if we get the win it'll be worth it (and I'm taking the credit)... :woohoo:

GAME ON!!!

Despite the deluge of rain last night, tonight’s game against Connacht is definitely on!

Rodney Parade Head of Operations Mark Jones said “Our ground staff have worked tirelessly, not just over the last 24 hours but over the last 8 months to improve and protect the playing surface at Rodney Parade. The additional drainage and extensive preparation they have put in has meant that we have been able to cope with torrential rain last night and ensure that tonight’s match goes ahead.”

i was shocked when i saw this and paniced a bit. it was on the dragons twitter, never crossed my mind it could be cancelled.

also yesterday there flight was delayed by 5 hours i think, was didnt leave dublin airport till around 10pm

Maybe they should try rodders at 8 and we can have our own nick williams

Agreed. I don't think he'll replace George but imagine him in the scrum when all he has to do is push and not worry about the dark arts of the front row. I think one of the reasons why the Ulster scrum is so potent a weapon this year is Nick Williams at 8 throwing in his power as well. Glad to see Healy make the bench he deserves a run out to see if he's got the right stuff.

Maybe they should try rodders at 8 and we can have our own nick williams....

I like the look of the team overall although the back row looks a little green.

Borders no.2 wrote: This nonsense with Rodney as replacement prop (and Brett Wilkinson in the A side) is going to come back to haunt us. If we're two points up near the end with a scrum in our own half I know who I'd want on. Rodneys attitude looks better and he has improved his ball carrying this season but time and time again its been proven he can't scrum at professional level on either side of the scrum and thats the nuts and bolts of his job.

I don't know is it a stubborn streak or whether Dan McFarland and Eric see enough in training to justify this selection but its baffling. If Wilkinson was off at the end of the season you'd say something but he's just signed a new 2 year deal and he'll be playing with the kids while we face a very important league game.

No real problem with the team apart from that. Obviously they want Henshaw to bed in at 15 and are keeping faith in him at full back and Poolman seems to be viewed as a 13. Duffy on the wing has its drawbacks but with a bit of disruption already maybe its worth the risk to place him there rather than re-jig the whole back division.

The pack is a bit short of full strength but Kearney, Browne and McKeown have done well for us in most games and should fare alright tomorrow.

i agree. Rodney is playing for a contract so he should be lining out at TH for eagles tomorrow eve with Healy, who is also playing for a contract, playing in his proper positon of LH. Wilko should be on the bench in rodney parade.
I sat very close to Dan and EE at the falcons game and i heard some of the comments they made during game. Dan in particular seemed to be very impressed with the amount of carries rodney made during game while they appeared to view his struggles in scrum as collateral damage. They dont seem to think that scrummaging is the No 1 job of a prop. Munster management seem to hold a similar view of Archer(so far) and it defies logic.
Its a decent looking team and doesnt look significantly weakened despite the high profile absentees which in itself is a sign of progress.

Don't know how long Rodney has left on his contract but would they just be giving him every opportunity to show he is deserving of a renewal?

It was something Elwood spoke about in quite a bit of a depth in one of the early pressers this season. He specifically said that if any of the senior players is not pulling their weight in either training or in matches they would train and play with the Eagles until such time they had proven otherwise. Equally any of the young lads sticking their hands up would be rewarded.

I'd agree that I'd rather have Wilko on the bench tomorrow night but at the same time it is not a bad marker for us to be laying down in the long term.

Interesting to see PP has us at +5 tomorrow. TOH 14/1 and Poolman 16/1 for 1st try have me tempted too.

This nonsense with Rodney as replacement prop (and Brett Wilkinson in the A side) is going to come back to haunt us. If we're two points up near the end with a scrum in our own half I know who I'd want on. Rodneys attitude looks better and he has improved his ball carrying this season but time and time again its been proven he can't scrum at professional level on either side of the scrum and thats the nuts and bolts of his job.

I don't know is it a stubborn streak or whether Dan McFarland and Eric see enough in training to justify this selection but its baffling. If Wilkinson was off at the end of the season you'd say something but he's just signed a new 2 year deal and he'll be playing with the kids while we face a very important league game.

No real problem with the team apart from that. Obviously they want Henshaw to bed in at 15 and are keeping faith in him at full back and Poolman seems to be viewed as a 13. Duffy on the wing has its drawbacks but with a bit of disruption already maybe its worth the risk to place him there rather than re-jig the whole back division.

The pack is a bit short of full strength but Kearney, Browne and McKeown have done well for us in most games and should fare alright tomorrow.

With his young legs Henshaw probably has better speed than Duffy, but having said that I'm really glad we're keeping changes to a minimum. Might end up seeing them change about in the course of the match.

Of course, when I say "see" we all know that's not happening!

ummm, wrote: Mostly happy with that, bit worried about Duffy on the wing, not sure he has the gas for it.

Very happy to see Mick Kearney get a start.

No worries about Gav on wing tbh, if anything it'll free up Robbie to carry back some ball knowing that Gav will move across to fill in if he heads up-field...

Agreed about Kearney, good game for him to get another run..

Wilko in the 'A' team and Ah You on the bench for the seniors? Has Wilko been caught stealing peoples lunch money?

SKIPPER RETURNS TO ADD FIRE TO DRAGONS BELLY
By Katie Vizard | 22/11/2012
Lewis Evans returns to the starting line up to face Connacht along with prop Phil Price this Friday evening at Rodney Parade.
Young players Jack Dixon and Ieuan Jones retain places on the regions bench after impressive form during the LV competition.

The men of Gwent hope to continue their form following last week’s fixture against Northampton in the LV Cup.

Dragons team to face Connacht

Tom Prydie, Will Harries, Pat Leach, Ashley Smith, Tonderai Chavhanga, Dan Evans, Wayne Evans, Phil Price, Hugh Gustafson, Dan Way, Adam Jones, Rob Sidoli, Lewis Evans ©, Nic Cudd, Tom Brown.

Replacements:
Steve Jones, Owen Evans, Nathan Buck, Ian Nimmo, Ieuan Jones, Jonathan Evans, Lewis Robling, Jack Dixon.

Eagles not named yet but Leinster have announced a mostly very young team

LEINSTER 'A':

15: Adam Byrne
14: Andrew Boyle
13: Rory O'Loughlin
12: Jordan Coghlan
11: Max McFarland
10: Cathal Marsh
9: Luke McGrath

1: James Tracy
2: Bryan Byrne
3: Tadhg Furlong
4: Tadhg Beirne
5: Tom Denton
6: Ben Marshall
7: Conor Gilsenan CAPTAIN
8: Jack Conan

REPLACEMENTS:

16: Tyrone Moran
17: Shane Delahunt
18: Jamie Lawless
19: Jerry Sexton
20: Josh van der Flier
21: Dave Shanahan
22: Steve Crosbie
23: Tom Daly
24: Eoghan Quinn
25: Eoghan Masterson

No Wilko in the 23 - is he injured?

And is there any news on the Eagles team?