Munster v Dragons

I'm rooting for the Dragons. Surprised anyone?

Munster: 15 Johne Murphy, 14 Doug Howlett, 13 Danny Barnes, 12 Lifiemi Mafi, 11 Denis Hurley, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 James Coughlan, 7 Niall Ronan, 6 Peter O'Mahony (capt), 5 Mick O'Driscoll, 4 Billy Holland, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Mike Shery, 1 Marcus Horan.
Replacements: 16 Damien Varley, 17 Wian Du Preez, 18 John Hayes, 19 Dave Foley, 20 Tommy O'Donnell, 21 Duncan Williams, 22 Scott Deasy, 23 Simon Zebo.

Dragons: 15 Steffan Jones, 14 Adam Hughes, 13 Tom Riley, 12 Ashley Smith, 11 Mike Poole, 10 Jason Tovey, 9 Joe Bedford, 8 Tom Brown, 7 Gavin Thomas, 6 Andrew Coombs, 5 Robert Sidoli, 4 Adam Jones, 3 Ben Castle, 2 Tom Willis, 1 Phil Price.
Replacements: 16 Rhys Buckley, 17 Nathan Williams, 18 Dan Way, 19 Jevon Groves, 20 Hugo Ellis, 21 Wayne Evans, 22 Pat Leach, 23 Martyn Thomas.

Munster, as always and particularly annoyingly during the RWC period, look like they have settled and real world-star class in their ranks. I get intimidated when you read a team and at least every other player has figured in some seriously high-performing sides. Just in their backs - Murphy (the dominant Leicester team of 07-10); Howlett (the ABs); Mafi (well reknowned Munster stalwart); Hurley (likewise Munster faithful); Stringer etc. Then throughout the pack you have pickings of international talent and trusted Munster performers.

The Dragons on the other hand are much more home grown (or shoestring budget sourced...). But I'm still optimistic. I haven't seen anything of Poole on the wing, but hear good things about Bedford, and other than them the rest of the backline have been real gems for the region. The pack are all seasoned campaigners, aside from Brown.

What I like about the Dragons is they are building a (rather large to be honest) squad of solid, hardworking performers. They all earn their relatively small paycheques with more fervour and commitment than others at more highly considered clubs/regions.

I can see gaps of experience in Munster's squad, but there is more than ample recognised talent waiting on the bench. It would be a huge ask for the Dragons to come away with more than 1 point from this, but it is the start of the season and hope hasn't abandoned me yet.