NEWPORT Gwent Dragons captain Lewis Evans goes into the final fortnight of the Guinness PRO12 with a chance of being the Championship's top tackler, writes Chris Kirwan.

The back row forward currently sits joint second in the rankings with Edinburgh lock Ben Toolis on 222 tackles, five behind Ulster flanker Sean Reidy.

Evans, 29, will be hoping for a strong finish to the season against the Scots at Myreside on Friday before the final fixture of the campaign against Cardiff Blues in Caerphilly a week on Saturday.

Dragons flankers Nic Cudd and Ollie Griffiths also feature near the top of the tackle stats, provided by Opta, with 205 and 175 respectively.

Griffiths was man of the match in the round 20 Judgement Day clash against the Scarlets at Principality Stadium with the 22-year-old from Newbridge doing his chances of a place on Wales' summer tour no harm at all with 15 tackles, 16 carries (three defenders beaten) and three turnovers.

Evans, who has made 23 appearances in all competitions this season and has been playing number eight since Ed Jackson suffered a shoulder injury in January, is sixth in the ball carrying charts with 188.

That is eight behind the top-placed forward Dan Baker of the Ospreys while Connacht full-back Tiernan O'Halloran sets the pace with 270.

Centre Tyler Morgan is the Dragons' top off-loader with 13 (Connacht's Bundee Aki is first with 27) while Griffiths is third for turnovers won with 17, the Scarlets' James Davies having 26 and Leinster's Dan Leavy 25.

There are no Dragons in the top 25s for defenders beaten or clean breaks with Ulster's former All Black Charles Piutau leading the way on 66 and 24 respectively.

This weekend's fixtures: Friday - Cardiff Blues v Zebre, Edinburgh v Newport Gwent Dragons, Leinster v Glasgow. Saturday - Ospreys v Ulster, Treviso v Munster, Connacht v Scarlets