HOANI MacDonald, the latest Newport Gwent Dragons recruit from New Zealand, could go straight into the team for Sunday’s final EDF Energy Cup group game against Wasps at Adams Park.

MacDonald arrived in Wales last Friday and was an interested onlooker at Kingsholm the day after when the Dragons ran a leading English team close for the second week running before going down 25-20.

MacDonald has been playing every week for his province Southland in the Air New Zealand Cup, helping to take them as far as the semi-finals where they finally lost against Wellington ten days ago.

He had to serve out the rest of his contract with Southland before he could join up with coach Paul Tur-ner’s other rec-ruits from Down Under - new captain Tom Willis, James Arlidge and Grant Webb who all arrived in the summer.

The original intention had been to at most put MacDonald on the bench against Wasps in view of his heavy recent workload, especially with a three-week break coming up until the Dragons’ next game against Leinster in Dublin in a difficult Magners League clash at the end of November.

But ever-present Adam Jones suffered another shoulder injury at Gloucester and is having an operation next week while Luke Charteris, though called up for the Wales squad, has a slight shoulder injury as well and may not be risked.

That would leave a lock partnership against Wasps of Andy Hall and MacDonald, the New Zealander able to play at lock or blindside - the latter the positon he has been occupying for Southland this season.

Flanker Richard Parks is another Dragons player due to have a minor shoulder operation next week, also taking advantage of the three-weeks break.

Centre Rhodri Davies, who had been playing well at Kingsholm until suffering a nasty-looking head injury, will be monitored this week, though the Dragons are well covered in the centre.

But it looks as though props Rhys Thomas and Adam Black will have to play yet again in the Wasps fixture even though Thomas is involved with the Wales squad.

Gethin Robinson could be fit for the bench, but Lee Harrison, Jamie Corsi and Hugh Gustafson are all still injured. Loose head Gustafson could even be out until next March after a disc problem requiring an operation has been identified.

The Dragons, meanwhile, have slipped two places in the league after the weekend’s results. They have been leapfrogged by Ulster, who inflicted a shock defeat on leaders Munster, their first of the season in any competition, and Edinburgh who beat bottom team Connacht in Galway.