GARETH Cooper will be the latest British Lion to return to the fray, set to be named in the Newport Gwent Dragons 22 for Saturday night's Powergen Cup-tie against Northampton at Franklin's Gardens.
The Dragons will travel in good heart after their shock victory over Leicester and despite the continuing good form of Gareth Baber at scrum half the return of Cooper will be an obvious boost.
He was almost ready for the Leicester game after his ankle operation, but it was decided to give him another week to recover fully after he resumed running only at the beginning of last week.
He could well have to wait into the second half at Northampton as he is likely to be on the bench with Baber starting, as he has in all five Dragons matches this season. A further boost is the expected return of lock Luke Charteris and the fitness of centre Hal Luscombe.
Both have been involved in Wales fitness training this week before returning to the Dragons fold today, but Charteris is expected to be available after missing the Leicester game with knee and groin injuries
And Luscombe, who limped off in the closing stages of the Leicester match with a knee injury, is also expected to be fit.
Northampton will be without former Bridgend prop Colin Noon who made a comeback from injury in the victory over Worcester only to damage a calf muscle which will keep him out for six weeks.
Also doubtful is regular openside flanker Darren Fox, who is struggling with a leg injury. There is a chance new signing David Gerard will be on the bench after arriving from Toulouse on Sunday.
The 6ft 6in lock, who has won two caps, spent six years with the Heineken Cup champions and started 70 per cent of matches with them, but missed out on the big finals.
Northampton, like the Dragons, have rarely played at home this season, but are on a high after achieving successive victories over Gloucester and Worcester.
They regard the Dragons test as a must-win fixture if they are to have a chance of progressing to the quarter-finals of the Powergen Cup which could be their best chance of qualifying for the Heineken Cup next season.
"We had an excellent win against Worcester and there's a whole buzz about the place," said Northampton chairman and benefactor Keith Barwell.
l Wales coach Mike Ruddock has received a triple boost with the likely availability of three of his British Lions for the big game against New Zealand at a sold-out Millennium Stadium on November 5.
Back row forward Ryan Jones hopes to resume in the next fortnight after a shoulder injury while wing Shane Williams says he'll be fit after groin surgery and outside half Stephen Jones' ankle injury is not as bad as initially feared.
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