WALES scrum half Gareth Cooper, who is on the verge of starting his first season with Newport Gwent Dragons, has three major targets for the new campaign.

The first is to actually make the start of the season after having an operation on his left shoulder in early May, the second is to establish himself in the side and the third is to regain his place in the Welsh team.

Cooper has been training with the Dragons from day one, though he admits most of the work has been on fitness with little real involvement yet by Chris Anderson, the former Australia rugby league coach about to be officially unveiled as the new Dragons chief.

The dashing scrum half missed the Wales tour of Argentina and South Africa because of the shoulder problem.

He says progress is as expected and though he will miss the pre-season friendlies he should be fit for the start of the Celtic League programme.

Even then he will have to replace Gareth Baber, who enjoyed a marvellous first season with the Dragons and was one of the successes of the team.

"I had the operation 10 weeks ago to clean out the shoulder because I didn't have good movement there and the bones pinching on the ligaments made the joint stiff," he said.

"It's still sore, but I've been doing rehab every day and strengthening it slowly.

"I'll be starting to lift weights soon three months after the operation just as I was advised.

"I may struggle to make the pre-season friendlies (against a Welsh Premier Division XV and Northampton), but it should be fine for the start of the season.

"I've been enjoying the training, most of it has been fitness work so far and we haven't had much to do with Chris.

"But he has changed the structure with a shorter day and the intensity has gone up.

"I'm getting on quite well with the boys, some of whom I didn't know. Cardiff to start with is a huge match and then it's Llanelli so it's not the easiest of starts, but it's very exciting."

Because he missed the Wales tour he lost his place to close rival Duane Peel after playing right through last season's Six Nations Championship. The two are close friends, but Cooper still wants his place back.

"Duane had a fantastic tour, he's always competitive and I'm looking forward to playing against him in the Llanelli match," he said.

"He's a good friend, we speak quite often on the phone and we train together and often room together when we're away. But my aim is to get my place back in the team."

* Dragons full back Percy Montgomery landed three touchline conversions and made a try for South Africa against New Zealand in a Tri Nations cracker in Christchurch on Saturday. But his efforts were in vain as the

Springboks were pipped 23-21 when All Blacks wing Doug Howlett scored a last minute try after a titanic battle.