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Newport Gwent Dragons will be relieved to welcome back former Springboks wing Tonderai Chavhanga for his first game of the season. - 19/10/2012 10:45
Newport Gwent Dragons will be relieved to welcome back former Springboks wing Tonderai Chavhanga for his first game of the season.
The Zimbabwe-born flyer has been out since April following knee surgery but has made a timely recovery for this key battle after 20 minutes in the British & Irish Cup last week.
Chavhanga said: “It did me a lot of good getting a few minutes before I hit the big time.
“I've done a lot of training with my rehabilitation and the conditioning but nothing beats game time.”
Dragons also include fit-again centres Andy Tuilagi and Patrick Leecha as they look to bounce back from there 38-25 defeat at London Wasps.
Bayonne lost both their previous encounters with Newport – in 2006/7 – but head to Rodney Parade full of confidence after securing their biggest win in Europe over first-timers Rugby Mogliano with Wales scrum half Mike Phillips back in favour. Former All Black Joe Rokocoko scored one of his team's 11 tries.
Pour sa dernière rencontre européenne de la saison
Bayonne put themselves on a collision course with London Wasps in December for the leadership of Pool 3 in the Amlin Challenge Cup after making it two wins out of two with a 22-19 win over the Dragons at Rodney Parade.
Outside-half Benjamin Boyet kicked 17 points to add four more points to the five they picked up in beating Mogliano 71-7 in the first round. The only other points came from a first-half try by skipper and second row Mark Chisholm.
The Dragons got off to a flying start when back row man Tom Brown crashed over for a try at the posts after only seven minutes and the unerring boot of Welsh international Tom Prydie kept them in the contest throughout.
The full back didn’t miss a kick as he converted Brown’s try and kicked four penalties. The Dragons had other chances to score, notably when Lewis Robling cut through in the first-half and Andy Tuilagi was held on the line in the 80th minute, but in the end they had to settle for a losing bonus point.
Bayonne will have home advantage over Wasps when they meet in Round 3 on December 8.
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