Newport Gwent Dragons release 8 players

Posted on Mar 8, 2012 in Newport Gwent Dragon, Welsh Rugby

Newport Gwent Dragons have released 8 players from their squad for the 2012-2013 season.

The following players have been officially informed that no contract will be on offer from the region beyond this season.

Rhys Buckley, Gethin Robinson, Royce Cadman, Rhys Jenkins, Hugo Ellis, James Leadbeater, Tom Riley, Martyn Thomas

Director of Rugby Robert Beale said, “The decision not to offer contract extensions to these players has been reached after discussions with Head Coach Darren Edwards and his coaching team, based on future business plans and the direction the Management team and squad will follow.

“The players concerned have been formally thanked for their efforts whilst representing the Regional Team.”

Fortress Musgrave Park sees PRO12 opener with Munster vs Newport Gwent Dragons

Posted on Jul 26, 2011 in Irish Rugby, Munsters, Newport Gwent Dragon, Welsh Rugby

Reigning champions Munster will launch their RaboDirect PRO12 campaign at ‘fortress’ Musgrave Park in the opening weekend of the newly named competition.

Round 1 sees the team that haven’t lost a RaboDirect PRO12 game in Cork since 10 May, 2008 (18-21 v Glasgow Warriors), 11 games ago, tackle Welsh rivals Newport Gwent Dragons on a weekend that kicks-off on Friday, 2 September.

It’s all change for the 2011/12 season with the tournament organisers changing their identity to PRO12, to reflect the growth and structure of the competition, the inclusion of two Italian franchises last season and the introduction of a Play-Off and Grand Final system.

RaboDirect, the online banking arm of Rabobank, has been announced the new title sponsor for the tournament. No strangers to sponsorship, Rabobank are now synomomous with cycling and RaboDirect in Australia have just finished their inaugural season as sponsors of the RaboDirect Melbourne Rebels.

RaboDirect has almost 80,000 customers in Ireland alone and operates in Belgium, Australia and New Zealand. They pride themselves on being the bank that does things differently so we’re looking forward to seeing what they can bring to the tournament and fans.

Mighty Munster were undefeated in 13 home matches last season as they marched to their third title, beating the 2010 champions the Ospreys in the semi-finals and then outgunning Leinster 19-9 in the Grand Final a week after the Dublin-based side had been crowned champions of Europe.

Leinster find themselves travelling to the Liberty Stadium to face the Ospreys in their opening match in what will be a re-run of the 2010 Grand Final, when the Welsh region triumphed in Dublin.

The first round will also see Edinburgh and Cardiff Blues get an early glimpse of each other as they prepare to meet again in Pool 2 of next season’s Heineken Cup. The other opening weekend fixtures see Benetton Treviso host Connacht at Stadio Monigo, Glasgow Warriors travel to Ravenhill to meet Ulster and the Scarlets entertain Aironi at Parc y Scarlets.

The RaboDirect PRO12 will continue through September and early October while the Rugby World Cup is being played in New Zealand, but there will be a two week break after Round 6 (weekend of 7 October) while the semi-finals and final of the global tournament are played.

Then it is back to business on the weekend of 28 October for Rounds 7 and 8 ahead of the opening Pool weekends of the Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge Cup. Round 8 (4 November) will see the first wave of major derby clashes as Leinster host Munster at RDS, the Dragons entertain Cardiff Blues at their re-built Rodney Parade ground and the Ospreys play the Scarlets at the Liberty Stadium.

The derbies return around Christmas and the New Year with Edinburgh kicking-off the 1872 Cup clashes with Glasgow Warriors at Murrayfield in Round 11 before heading to Glasgow for the return a week later, on the weekend of 30 December, in Round 12.

The head-to-head games between the two Italian teams start at Stadio Zaffanella in Round 11, with Aironi hosting Benetton Treviso, with the return leg coming the following weekend. In Ireland, Munster host Connacht in Round 11 before heading to Ulster, while Leinster entertain Ulster and then travel to Connacht.

The Welsh regions do battle as well, with the re-match between the Blues and Dragons taking place at Cardiff City Stadium in Round 11 and the Scarlets welcoming the Ospreys to Llanelli. The following weekend the Dragons host the Scarlets and the Ospreys face the Blues.

There will be two rounds of matches played during the 2012 RBS 6 Nations, Round 14 (10 February) and Round 16 (24 February) with the final round, Round 22, being played on the weekend of 4 May, 2012.

The RaboDirect PRO12 Play-Offs, between the top four finishing teams in the regular season, will take place on the weekend of 11 May and the RaboDirect PRO12 Grand Final will be on Saturday, 26 May, 2012.

Sale Sharks Team News v Petrarca

Posted on Jan 14, 2011 in Rugby News

Head Coach Pete Anglesea said, “It is very unlikely that we will qualify now but I want to carry on the momentum the team have shown recently. I have rested some of the players as we have played three big games in the space of eleven days. In doing so it opens the door for several of the squad players to put their hand up and take their opportunity. We have some big games coming up over the coming weeks and will be losing some players to the Six Nations. I want to finish the group games off with two good performances before we prepare for the big game against Newport Gwent Dragons in the LV=Cup in a fortnights time.”

Team: Nick Macleod, Mathew Tait, Jonny Kennedy, Andy Tuilagi, Mark Cueto, Rob Miller, Will Cliff, Lee Imiolek, Ben Roberts, Henry Thomas, Nic Rouse, Sean Cox, James Gaskell, Neil McMillan, Chris Brightwell

Replacements: Marc Jones, Aston Croall, Simon McIntyre, Wame Lewaravu, Carl Fearns, Chris Leck, Charlie Hodgson, Chris Bell

Fussell moves to Ospreys

Posted on Feb 9, 2010 in Rugby News

Richard Fussell has revealed that his ambition to play for Wales was behind his decision to sign a two-year contract with the Ospreys.
The 25-year old Newport Gwent Dragons wing has penned a deal that will see him arrive at the Ospreys in the summer after five years at Rodney Parade, and he says that the motivating factor for his switch to Ospreylia was the region’s track record in developing players for the national set-up.

Fussell commented: ”I’m excited about the prospect of moving to the Ospreys. I’ve made the decision purely on the basis of where I feel I can develop my game best over the next couple of years. I’ve spoken to people about the set-up at the Ospreys and it’s all been very positive. They have excellent facilities and a track record in developing players so I see it as a real opportunity for me to kick on another level in my game. If you look at the number of players that the Ospreys bring through for Wales, then it is clear that they are doing something right and I’m looking forward to being a part of it.

“There are some great coaches at the Ospreys, they have exciting plans for the region and I’m looking forward to working with them. It’s going to be a real challenge for me personally to go into that environment and try and make an impact. I realise that they have real strength in the wing position; In Shane Williams and Tommy Bowe I’d say that they’ve probably got two of the best wingers in the world, and there is also Nikki Walker and some really talented youngsters coming through, so being around players of that quality and working with them day in, day out, and testing myself in training against them can only be a positive thing for me personally. Hopefully, it will allow me to improve my own game to the level where maybe I can get closer to international rugby.

“Clearly, while I’m looking forward to joining up with the Ospreys, there’s a lot of rugby to be played between now and the end of the season. I’ve been at the Dragons for five years, I’ve really enjoyed my time with them and as a professional rugby player my focus between now and then will be 100 per cent on the Dragons and doing my best for them, which is as it should be.”

Lineen says Glasgow need to do ML position justice

Posted on Dec 9, 2009 in Rugby News

Glasgow Warriors head coach Sean Lineen has this week challenged his players to back-up their status as Magners League leaders by putting in a winning performance against Gloucester when they return to Heineken Cup duty at Firhill on Friday night (kick-off 7:30pm).

“It’s a tail of two tables,” he said. “In the Magners League we’re at the top but in the Heineken Cup we’re at the bottom.

“We need to play like a team that’s at the top of the Magners League to do our current position justice.”

The Warriors lost their two opening games of the European competition away to Newport-Gwent Dragons and at home to Biarritz.

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