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Newport Gwent Dragons
(Main) Newport Gwent Dragons (Thumb) Dragons Coach Paul Turner
Huw Evans
Turner breeding confident Dragons
7 September 2007, 4:16 pm
By WRU
Paul Turner insists the Dragons are in confident mood going into their second derby match of the season.
The Dragons entertain the Blues at Rodney Parade tonight and Turner is hoping his men can build on their historic 30-23 win at Stradey Park win last weekend.

Turner said: "It's a massive match and local derby. We managed to win last season on Boxing Day and put up a good performance with a lot of youngsters at the Arms Park. The Blues have had a reasonable start and will be favourites going into the match.

"But Rodney Parade is a tough nut to crack and the players are bouncing off the walls with enthusiasm after our first-ever win at Stradey. I hope the Rodney faithful and the Gwent region will be out on Friday to support us and move us onto another level with a victory against the Blues."

Turner has expressed his relief at holding onto the points against the Scarlets, even though the Dragons went into the interval with a 20-point lead.

He added: "I thought that when we went in front that 23 points was going to be enough. It sounds greedy but there was a strong wind there. I was wary of the Scarlets fightback but we managed to gain some energy and grab that winning score.

"I thought the new signings like Richie Parks, Andy Williams and Wayne Evans have brought a dimension and a mental toughness to our play which pleased me. It was old school but it was effective."

The Blues opened their campaign with a morale-boosting win over last season's champions the Ospreys and Turner knows how tough a test his men will face.

Turner concluded, "The Blues signed well in the summer in Paul Tito to add to their quality players like Blair, Rush and Stcherbina. They also have regulars who failed to make the World Cup squad such as Nicky Robinson and Tom James and they will be invaluable for them at this time of the year."


Dragons: Martyn Thomas; Gareth Wyatt, Phil Dollman, Ashley Smith, Richard Mustoe; Aled Thomas, Andrew Williams; Adam Black, Ben Daly, Rhys Thomas, Luke Charteris (capt), Peter Sidoli, Jamie Ringer, Nic Fitisemanu, Richard Parks

Replacements: Steve Jones, Hugh Gustafson, Adam Jones, Dan Lydiate, Joe Bearman, Gareth Maule, Wayne Evans

Blues: Ben Blair; Rhys Williams, Tal Selley, Dafydd Hewitt, Jamie Roberts; Nick Robinson, Richie Rees; John Yapp, Ross Johnson, Gary Powell, Deiniol Jones, Paul Tito, Ben White, Xavier Rush (capt), Robin Sowden-Taylor

Replacements: Scott Roberts, Gareth Williams, Robert Sidoli, Mark Lewis, Jason Spice, Nick Macleod, Marc Stcherbina

Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)

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