The Guinness PRO14 season restarts this Friday evening (August 21) – and ahead of the big resumption we are rewinding the season month-by-month to remind supporters of the state of play.
In this edition we go back to November and a difficult month on the domestic front with trips to champions Leinster and Edinburgh before entertaining Zebre on home soil.
LEARN LESSONS FROM DEFEAT - RYAN
Dean Ryan admitted his Dragons needed to learn the lessons of a difficult November as they looked to bounce back in the Guinness PRO14.
A 50-15 loss to Leinster and battling 20-7 defeat to Edinburgh was followed by success in Europe before Zebte came calling to end the month.
On a wet and windy night at Rodney Parade, Harrison Keddie and fellow back row Taine Basham – with his seventh try in nine games this season – crossed the whitewash.
But it was Zebre – with their Italian internationals involved – who scored five tries to take maximum points.
“That was a tough night for us physically. With their Italy internationals back you could see the difference in physicality,” said Director of Dragons Rugby Ryan.
“We struggled in the collisions, we held on for 40 minutes but you could see the start of it. If you can’t handle collisions and can’t get over the gain line then you will have a tough night.
“There always things to take from a performance and there were some young men there who were exposed way earlier than they should be to a Zebre side filled with internationals.
“That was an experience for them, it was an opportunity but highlighted that some of them probably aren’t at that place yet and they’ve got to use that to work out how they get there.
“I was not carried away by two wins and I am not down in the dumps now,” added Ryan.
“What I am seeing is lots of young men starting to get things right, but are they ready for the physicality of a fired-up side filled with Italian internationals? Probably not, but we probably knew that beforehand.
“We’ve got to keep developing the players and get them into a better space to get this side in the right direction.”
We’ve got to keep developing the players and get them into a better space to get this side in the right direction...
