JASON Tovey will aim to pass 1,000 points for the Dragons at Benetton tomorrow (kick-off 1pm) after being recalled to the XV for the Guinness PRO14 clash.
The fly-half, who returned for a third spell at Rodney Parade in October, needs just five more points to move into four figures.
The 29-year-old is one of four changes to the starting line-up from last week’s 34-17 loss to Edinburgh at Murrayfield.
The left-footer replaces Josh Lewis while Zane Kirchner comes in for injured full-back Jordan Williams and Jack Dixon gets the nod at inside centre ahead of Jarryd Sage.
There is one change to the pack with Lewis Evans making his 225th Dragons appearance at lock with Joe Davies dropping down to the bench.
Lewis is fly-half cover ahead of Gavin Henson, who drops out of the 23 after a cameo in Scotland, and Adam Warren returns from a foot injury to cover the three-quarters.
The Dragons have lost 40 successive PRO14 games on the road since winning in Treviso in March, 2015.
They were level-pegging with Edinburgh until the final quarter and caretaker head coach Ceri Jones knows that a huge forward effort and a pragmatic approach is needed against another play-off contender.
“Just after half-time in Edinburgh we had too many back-to-back defensive sets,” he said.
“We could have controlled territory and possession better than we did. In the last 20 minutes they got on top of us but it was us over-playing that cost us to a certain extent.
“We want to play when there are opportunities, but we will look to play a bit more territory against Benetton.”
The Italians are third in Conference B, level on points with second-placed Edinburgh, and have lost just once in their last 10 matches in all competitions.
“We have nothing but respect for them. You all saw what they did to a good Scarlets team last week,” said Jones, referring to their 25-19 triumph.
“They were comfortable winners in the end. They were extremely physical and pragmatic in what they did."
Benetton: L Sperandio, R Tavuvara, T Benvenuti, A Sgarbi (captain), M Ioane, A Rizzi, D Duvenage, D Appiah, T Baravalle, M Riccioni, I Herbst, N Cannone, M Lazzaroni, G Pettinelli, T Halafihi. Replacements: E Makelara, A De Marchi, G Di Stefano, R Barbieri, M Barbini, G Brozini, M Zanon, T Iannone.
Dragons: Z Kirchner, J Rosser, T Morgan, J Dixon, W Talbot-Davies, J Tovey, R Williams, B Harris, R Hibbard (captain), L Fairbrother, L Evans, M Screech, H Keddie, O Griffiths, J Benjamin. Replacements: R Lawrence, R Fawcett, D Suter, J Davies, T Basham, R Davies, J Lewis, A Warren.
Referee: Quinton Immelman (South Africa)
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel