HEINEKEN CUP POOL 2 Venue: Kingsholm, Gloucester Date: 9 October Kick-off: 2000 BST Coverage: Live on BBC Radio Wales & online, score updates on BBC Sport website
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Charteris set for Kingsholm test
Newport Gwent Dragons captain Tom Willis admits the Welsh region face a formidable Heineken Cup Pool Two opener at Gloucester on Friday night.
The Dragons have hit some form in the Magners League but Willis knows Kingsholm will be a tough prospect.
"[It's] pretty daunting to be honest. Fortunately we had the experience of going there last year [in the Anglo-Welsh Cup] and pushing them," he said.
"Hopefully we can go one better, roll up our sleeves and fire in."
Added the Dragons hooker: "But we are under no illusions about how difficult it's going to be particularly on their home patch, Friday night, [in the] first round of the Heineken Cup.
"[Gloucester] are probably the heavyweights of the group. We had a crack at them [last year].
"At the end of the day they were probably too good for us, particularly in the pressure moments of the game, but our boys will be better armed for the experience."
Willis, who will have to watch from the sidelines on Friday because of a calf-muscle tear, is upbeat about his side's Heineken campaign.
Last season the Dragons finished bottom of Pool Five with just one win from their six matches, but Willis is planning to improve on that.
"Ultimately [our aim] it is to be competitive and be a better team in the Heineken Cup than we were last year. I think our experiences from last year will hold us in good stead," Willis said.
"It's a pretty strong group. Gloucester have won this competition before and are a heavyweight from the [Guinness] Premiership. Biarritz are always strong down France way. A bit of an unknown quantity.
"In terms of Glasgow we had them in our pool last year and had a number of battles with them. It's always close.
"It's still going to be a very demanding schedule for us.
"It's nice to be respected but having the underdog status isn't a bad thing, sometimes you can catch teams on the hop and give them a fright.
"Morale is pretty high in our camp. We are looking forward to the Heineken Cup."
The Dragons warmed up for the trip across the border with a morale-boosting 23-10 victory over Connacht at Rodney Parade last Saturday in the Magners League.
Gloucester: Tom Voyce; Charlie Sharples, James Simpson-Daniel, Tim Molenaar, Lesley Vainikolo; Nicky Robinson, Rory Lawson; Alasdair Dickinson, Scott Lawson, Greg Somerville; Dave Attwood, Alex Brown; Alasdair Strokosch, Akapusi Qera, Gareth Delve (capt). Replacements: Darren Dawiduik, Paul Doran-Jones, Pierre Capdevielle, Peter Buxton, Andrew Hazell, Dave Lewis, Freddie Burns, Jonny May
Dragons: Jason Tovey; Aled Brew, Tom Riley, Ashley Smith, Richard Fussell; James Arlidge, Wayne Evans; Ali McKenzie, Steve Jones, Nigel Hall, Robert Sidoli, Luke Charteris, Dan Lydiate, Gavin Thomas, Joe Bearman. Replacements: Duane Goodfield, Hugh Gustafson, Peter Bracken, Lewis Evans, Hoani MacDonald, Danny Lee, Shaun Connor, Martyn Thomas.
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