Perpignan v Dragons: Teams
Newport Gwent Dragons travel to Perpignan on Saturday hindered by the absence of a number of key players.
Last Updated: 13/01/12 5:28pm
Newport Gwent Dragons travel to Perpignan for Saturday's Amlin Challenge Cup clash hindered by the absence of a number of key players.
Fly-half Jason Tovey (leg), wing Tonderai Chavhanga (ribs), centre Ashley Smith (hamstring), hooker Lloyd Burns (illness) and flanker Gavin Thomas (knee) all miss out at the Stade Aime Giral, but Adam Hughes is fit.
Wales lock Luke Charteris and Scott Morgan are also on the injury list and in all the Dragons have made three enforced changes behind the scrum with Matthew Jones, Lewis Robling and Adam Hughes coming in, while Aled Brew switches back to wing from centre.
Another blow for the Newport-based region was the news this week that former captain Tom Willis has been forced to retire after the hooker failed to recover from the hand injury he sustained earlier this season.
Defeat
Tovey, Chavhanga and Smith all picked up their knocks in last weekend's morale-boosting home win over the Ospreys in the Pro12.
But the Dragons are unlikely to qualify for the knock-out stage of the Challenge Cup after back-to-back losses to Pool Four rivals Exeter Chiefs.
However, the Dragons will be bidding to do the double over the Catalan side having already beaten them 23-13 in the return fixture at Rodney Park.
The French side go into the final two rounds top of the group but have struggled in the domestic Top 14 this season, winning five of 15 league games.
However, Wales fly-half James Hook kicked three penalties to help them to a 14-14 draw at home to Racing Metro last weekend.
Perpignan: 15 Jérôme Porical, 14 Farid Sid, 13 David Marty, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Adrien Plante, 10 Gavin Hume, 9 David Mele, 8 Ovidiu Tonita, 7 Jean-Pierre Perez, 6 Grégory Le Corvec, 5 Romain Taofifenua, 4 Gerrie Britz, 3 Benoit Bourrust, 2 Charles Geli, 1 Kisi Pulu.
Replacements: 16 Guilhem Guirado, 17 Nicolas Mas, 18 Jérôme Schuster, 19 Damien Chouly, 20 Robins Tchale Watchou, 21 Florian Cazenave, 22 Nicolas Laharrague, 23 Armand Batlle.
Newport Gwent Dragons: 15 Martyn Thomas, 14 Will Harries, 13 Adam Hughes, 12 Lewis Robling, 11 Aled Brew, 10 Matthew Jones, 9 Wayne Evans, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Lewis 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Robert Sidoli, 4 Adam Jones, 3 Nathan Buck, 2. Steve Jones, 1 Nathan Williams.
Replacements: 16 Rhys Buckley, 17 Phil Price, 18 Dan Way, 19 Hugh Gustafson, 20 Tom Brown, 21 Jonathan Evans, 22 Andy Tuilagi, 23 Tom Riley.