Connacht v Dragons: Teams

Connacht have made five changes as they look to secure a morale-boosting win against the Dragons.

Coach Michael Bradley is without Ireland international Sean Cronin for the St Patrick's Day Magners League clash so Adrian Flavin takes over the hooking duties.

Bradley has also named Ray Ofisa in the back row, while winger Liam Bibo, centre Niva Ta'auso and scrum-half Conor O'Loughlin are also handed starts.

The Drafons will be without injured trio Lewis Evans, Duane Goodfield and Adam Jones for the trip to Galway.

Wales squad members Luke Charteris and Danny Lydiate are also unavailable, so Newport captain Andrew Coombs and Wales Under-20 back row Toby Faletau have been included in the squad.

Dragons head coach Paul Turner said: "Although these injuries are always frustrating, both for the players and coaching staff, we have players keen to step up for these games.

"As we have seen already this season in players such as Tom Riley and Will Harries, all of our squad members are ready to make the most of the opportunities they are given and I have no doubt that Andrew Coombs and Toby Faletau in particular will seize this chance with both hands."

Connacht: 15 Gavin Duffy, 14 Liam Bibo, 13 Niva Ta'auso, 12 Keith Matthews, 11 Fionn Carr, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Conor O'Loughlin, 8 George Naoupu, 7 Ray Ofisa, 6 John Muldoon (c), 5 Mike McCarthy, 4 Michael Swift, 3 Jamie Hagan, 2 Adrian Flavin, 1 Brett Wilkinson.
Replacements: 16 Ronan Loughney, 17 Robbie Morris, 18 Bernie Upton, 19 Mike McComish, 20 Kieran Campbell, 21 Miah Nikora, 22 Aidan Wynne.

Dragons: 15 Martyn Thomas, 14 Will Harries, 13 Mathew Watkins, 12 Ashley Smith, 11 Aled Brew, 10 Jason Tovey, 9 Wayne Evans, 1 Hugh Gustafson, 2 Tom Willis (capt.), 3 Ben Castle, 4 Rob Sidoli, 5 Hoani Macdonald, 6 Toby Faletau, 7 Gavin Thomas, 8 Grant Webb.
Replacements: 16 Steve Jones, 17 Pat Palmer, 18 Andrew Coombs, 19 Adam Brown , 20 Tom Riley, 21 James Arlidge, 22 James Leadbeater