NEWPORT Gwent Drag-ons are without nine leading players whereas Leinster include all their Irish stars in a 25-man squad for Sunday's Celtic League game at Lansdowne Road.

Leinster have after all brought Brian O'Driscoll, favourite to lead the British Lions in New Zealand next summer, Gordon D'Arcy, Denis Hickie and Malcolm O'Kelly into their squad after last week's shock defeat by bottom team Borders when their top players were involved in a training camp.

They join fellow Irish squad members Girvan Dempsey, Shane Horgan, Guy Easterby, Reggie Corrigan, Leo Cullen and Eric Miller in the squad for the Dragons match while New Zealander David Holwell, who has been a big success at outside half, and Argentina ace Felipe Contepomi are also included.

The Leinster team will be finalised later today, but the Irish players do not fall foul of the same International Board seven-day ruling as the Dragons because Ireland do not play their first Six Nations Championship game against Italy until a week Sunday.

This time, unlike other occasions, it appears the Irish Rugby Union are happy for their leading players to have a run-out while Leinster look as though they want to exact full revenge for their 34-13 hiding at Rodney Parade on October 1.

They recovered to such a degree afterwards that they were the first team to qualify for the last eight of the Heineken Cup and the only side to win all six pool games, though they were given the doubtful reward of a home quarter-final against former winners Leicester, who scraped through in the final qualifying spot.

As forecast in yesterday's Argus, the Dragons will be without all eight of their Wales squad players - Kevin Morgan, Hal Luscombe, Ceri Sweeney, Gareth Cooper, Steve Jones, Ian Gough, Luke Charteris and Michael Owen - and Nathan Brew is also likely to miss out with his ankle injury, though he will travel.

The hard-hit Dragons switch Sione Tuipulotu to full back and Percy Montgomery to outside centre, bring Steve Winn and Ben Breeze into the threequarter line and include Gareth Baber and Craig Warlow at half back.

Jamie Richards steps in at hooker and Rhys Oakley at number eight while Newport's Neil Edwards plays at lock.

Five of the replacements are also Newport players - all three backs James Ireland, Richard Payne and Gareth Chapman, plus Kieran Crawford and club captain Matthew Veater.

"We had to get special dispensation from the Celtic League to include five non-regional players on permit," explained Dragons team manager Jim McCreedy.

"But it's a great opportunity for some of the younger players who've been training with the squad to play at this level."

The match has been moved to Ireland's international ground at Lansdowne Road because the pitch at Donnybrook, which is heavily used by schools as well, is unfit.

Dragons: S Tuipulotu, G Wyatt, P Montgomery, S Winn, B Breeze, C Warlow, G Baber, R Snow, J Richards, C Anthony, N Edwards, P Sidoli, J Ringer, R Oakley, J Forster (captain). Replacements: G Chapman, R Payne, J Ireland, A Black, K Crawford, R Thomas, M Veater. Kick-off 4.45pm.