Prop Leon Brown insists the ‘united’ Dragons are relishing the prospect of the final pool games in the European Challenge Cup.
Dean Ryan’s men – fresh from the epic derby day success over Ospreys - make the trip to France on Saturday to face Castres Olympique in Pool 1 before finishing against Russian outfit Enisei-STM on home soil.
Dragons are in pole position going to the Stade Pierre-Fabre (kick-off 2pm UK time) and Brown believes the team have ‘nothing to lose’ as they bid for a quarter-final spot.
“I’m sure it will a different Castres team to the one we faced at home. The French are renowned for picking stronger sides at home,” admitted Brown.
“We have got to go out there and we have nothing to lose. We can play a bit and see if we can get a result.
“It’s good to be pushing for the knockout stages and Dragons, in the past years, have done alright in Europe.
“We’re in a good place. We spoke (against Ospreys) about being one team united and we ground out the win,” he added.
“Dean has spoken to us about not getting carried away with ourselves and we are not going to be world beaters straight away.
“It is about staying in the fight and those 50/50s will go your way.
“We’ve not been used to winning so when you get into those 50/50 battles you wonder what to do. But a couple of games have gone our way now so we know we can do it.
“We have more confidence in ourselves and we are looking to play simple, fast rugby.”
Brown played a key role in the Guinness PRO14 victory over Ospreys as he sprinted over for a memorable long-range first half try.
“What was it - 45 metres? It was a case of pin the ears back and hope for the best,” joked Brown.
“We’d actually looked at the inside ball all week so I came around, thought I’d have a look, got through and was thinking ‘I shouldn’t be here!’”
And the Wales international admits he is enjoying his rugby as he keeps his focus on life at Rodney Parade and improving his all-round game.
“Dean has given me a bit of confidence and simplified the game,” he said.
“He has said he wants me to work on certain areas of the game - and anything else is a bonus.
“It was disappointing not to go to the World Cup, but it probably worked out for the best,” he added.
“I have had to come back and break down what was going wrong in the scrums and look at the basics to start learning again.
“We are all working hard in the week, people don’t see that, and we’re all backing each other and whoever goes out to do a job.”
Can Dragons make the knockout stages in Europe? Find out when we face Enisei-STM in the final pool game of the European Challenge Cup at Rodney Parade on Friday, January 17 (kick-off 8pm). Click HERE to buy tickets or call the Ticket Office on 01633 674990.
Dean has spoken to us about not getting carried away with ourselves and we are not going to be world beaters straight away...
