Dragons prop Hugh
Gustafson will be fronting up for his 17th appearance of the season on Friday
night
“I’ve just been concentrating on playing this season, taking my chances,” he said. “Having been out a bit last season with back problems, I know what it’s like not to play. It’s not nice for any player not to be involved, be it through injury or non-selection so I’ve just made the most of the opportunities I’ve had this season.
Hugh has shown some strong running, and feels that his stature gives him an edge, where perhaps his scrummaging is made more difficult by his relatively small size.
“I’ve been lucky enough to have played back row when I was younger –I only changed to prop when I was 15, so I think that’s where I get my ball-carrying from.
I think my size has always been something I’m concious of. I’m not the biggest – certainly no Andy Sheridan or Rhys Thomas - so I think I have to use my size as an advantage myself and show my mobility around the park”
And looking forward to this weekend’s game against Glasgow, “Gus” is under no illusions as to what has to be done to keep the Men of Gwent’s season on track.
“I think it was a shock the way we played at Biarritz – you just can’t play like that against such a good side. I think every year, they tend to qualify at the top of the pool and when we didn‘t really turn up, they showed what they could do and it was a bit of a shock to the system.
“Having said that, we have trained really hard over the last couple of weeks – concentrating on the parts of our game which were perhaps lacking in the festive matches and should be ready to take the game to both Glasgow and Gloucester. We may not be able to qualify for the quarter finals but we want to go out and prove a point. There’s also a place in the Challenge Cup knockout stages to play for.”
