Dragons’ Moriarty set to roar at Kings

Powerful Dragons loose forward Ross Moriarty will be unleashed on the Isuzu Southern Kings in what is expected to be a physical clash in Newport on Saturday.

The feisty Wales and Lions forward is poised to make his debut for the Rodney Parade side in a vital Guinness PRO14 encounter.

Moriarty, 24, was prominent among coach Bernard Jackman’s 14 recruits, but was an onlooker on the opening weekend after being sent off against Argentina in June.

He watched from the stands as the Dragons went down 2117 to Benetton last week.

“Physically Ross is back to where he was for the Lions tour,” Jackman said.

“Off the field he has had a brilliant preseason and is hitting personal bests in the gym.”

Jackman admitted that while the No 8 was physically back to his best, he would not be able to perform at his best after missing out on game time.

“Ross won’t be at full throttle. It will take game time,” Jackman said.

“He missed a lot of last season through injury but physically he is looking good.”

The Dragons lost their opening league game to Benetton after winning only two of 21 league matches in the 2017/ 2018 season.

“Ross will bring plenty of energy and physicality,” Dragons scrumhalf Rhodri Williams said. “He will bring that edge that he did week in, week out for Gloucester and Wales. “It will be a big boost,” “In training he has come in with hunger and you can see that he is a quality player.

“We don’t do that much training with a physical edge, but he will bring that.

“I wouldn’t fancy him running down my channel.”

Williams said there was no need to hit the panic button after their opening day loss.

“We weren’t quite clinical enough in the 22,” he said.

“We had a chance in the corner with a dropped ball, three attacking lineouts, we slipped up and made mistakes.

“We will look back on that and build for the Kings.

“The lucky thing with rugby is that we get the chance to do it all again this week, and at home.

“We are not going to just park it, we will learn from mistakes and build. We have got to get things in order.

“It was the first game of the season.

“There are plenty of things to work on and plenty of positives as well. We created opportunities but just have to take them.

“We are not miles off it. If everything was falling apart, it would be different.

“Benetton are a good side who won 11 games last year.”

The Kings, who emerged unscathed on the injury front after their loss to Zebre, are expected to name their team on Friday.