Skipper Hill returns for Dragons in Russian mission
BERNARD Jackman has named a number of his big guns to face Enisei-STM at the Slava Stadium in Moscow today (1pm BST) as they look to keep their Challenge Cup hopes alive.
After coming away from Newcastle with a losing bonus point last week, a win in their 50th match in the tournament would put them in a good position.
And the Dragons are clearly targeting the clash at the Slava Stadium – with Jackman opting to bring in a number of first-team regulars who missed last week’s action, making six changes.
Wales international Cory Hill returns to skipper the side in the second-row, while internationals Hallam Amos and Tyler Morgan, as well as Elliot Dee, Leon Brown and Pat Howard all come into the starting side.
The Dragons will be hoping to improve upon last year’s trip to Russia, when they went down 38-18 to this weekend’s opponents.
Speaking ahead of the trip, wing JaredRosser said: “I’ve never played against a Russian team so I am looking forward to seeing what they bring.
“As long as we are accurate and take what we have done in training onto the pitch we will be good. Accuracy and attitude are the biggest things away from home in a tough place like Russia, we’ve got to be close as a group.
“We are going there with all respect and know that we’ve got turn up [with the right attitude] to get the win.” Enisei-STM: R Gaisin; J Baranovs, D Kacharava, D Gerasimov, I Kurashov; I Kushnarev, A Shcherban; A Polivalov, S Selskii, I Zykov, U Saulite, V Krasylnyk, M Gachechiladze, M Gargalic, A Rudoi. Reps: N Gasanov, V Morozov, V Podrezov, E Elgin, A Budychenko, K Uzunov, S Trishin, Orlov. Dragons: H Amos; J Rosser, T Morgan, P Howard, G Gasson; A O’Brien, S Pretorius; L Garrett, E Dee, L Brown, J Davies, C Hill (capt), A Wainwright, O Griffiths, J Benjamin. Reps: G Ellis, T Davies, L Fairbrother, R Landman, J Thomas, C Davies, G Henson, A Warren. Referee: Ian Tempest (Eng).