STRONG-RUNNING forwards Robson Blake and Gerard Ellis have been challenged to show that they can be worth their weight in gold to the Dragons tomorrow after shedding the pounds this summer.

The duo are set to feature for the Rodney Parade region in the daunting Guinness PRO14 encounter with unbeaten Ulster in Belfast (kick-off 7.35pm).

Number eight Blake will be handed his first regional start while Ellis, a summer recruit from London Irish, will slot in at the heart of the front row after making his debut off the bench late on against Connacht last week.

The Dragons are one of the smallest sides in professional rugby but the two forwards could potentially add some oomph to Bernard Jackman’s team.

Blake earned a full-time deal after catching the eye with Bedwas in the Principality Premiership and the former tree surgeon has trimmed down after heading to the Ystrad Mynach training base ahead of his teammates in pre-season.

“Robson is a guy who hasn’t come through the standard academy system,” said head coach Jackman. “He came in at 136kg and is now 122kg, so he has lost 14 kg and has been really professional with his diet and his application.

“He is still a powerful guy and we probably don’t have as many ball carriers as most teams.

“It will be good for him to play eight – it’s a big step up from Premiership to Ravenhill but it’s exciting and he is a work-on.

“I think it will be a year before we can really judge him but he deserves some game time and hopefully he responds well.”

Jackman is also looking for a strong display from Welsh-qualified Ellis, who arrived at the Dragons from Irish in the summer carrying a little timber.

The former back row forward will get a first chance to put some heat on hooker Elliot Dee, who has started the season in superb form.

“We are trying to get Gerard fit, he is a guy who came in and wasn’t the shape that we would want,” admitted the head coach.

“He has been left out of the group with a view of getting fitter and he has bought into that and is looking a lot sharper.

“What he gives us is collisions, so it’s going to be a really good battle between him and [Rhys] Buckley to see who can share time with Elliot.

“That’s the pecking order at the moment, it’s Elliot clearly number one then Buckley and Ellis fighting it out for number two.

“I am looking forward to seeing Gerard playing [at Ulster] and I am looking forward to seeing Buckley in the second half because he has a lot to offer as well.”

The Dragons are looking to build on their 21-8 win against Connacht, a success that ended a 14-game losing streak.

“We showed our attack in the first half and were sharp with Pretorius giving us a lot of tempo,” said Jackman.

“Our forwards dominated collisions and showed a good skill set as well, which is what we have been working on.

“Then, with all the injuries in the backs, we closed the game down a little bit and Connacht are a team that test you probably more than anyone else in the league with their ability to keep the ball.

“We defended really well. We conceded one try from a lineout maul but only had two line breaks against us in the whole game, which is a really low stat.

“That shows the hard work we have done in defence but we still have a long way to go – we should have been a lot more aggressive and were a little bit passive at times.

“We weren’t giving line breaks away but we weren’t as aggressive as we needed to be with our line speed, but that will all come and it’s baby steps.”

The Dragons and Ulster name their teams at midday.