Destructive back row forward Harrison Keddie insists Dragons must look to force their style and game plan on Enisei-STM to avoid an arm wrestle with the Russian side.
Dean Ryan’s men face Enisei-STM on home soil on Friday evening (kick-off 8pm) looking to secure a bonus point win to keep knockout rugby hopes alive.
Enisei are yet to win this European campaign and have never won outside of Russia in the competition.
However, Keddie is fully aware of the challenge the Dragons face and insists they will only get the right result with the right mentality and approach.
“They are quite a difficult team to play if you get pulled into their style of play, with the big power plays,” said the 23-year-old.
“We’ve been trying to focus this week on what we need to get out of it, in terms of attack and defence, and trying to implement our game on them.
“We can take away learnings from playing against a big pack against Castres last weekend.
“We have got to look to put our tempo on the game, with regards to penalties and lineouts.
“You’ll always get a chance, within a period of the game to implement a fast period of play and we have got to get into that.
“Despite some of the scores, if you look at Enisei’s games they have stuck in it for a large periods,” he added.
“Maybe teams have pulled away in the last 20 minutes, but they are a hard team to breakdown.
“You can’t just expect to turn up, put your boots on and think that is a guaranteed four tries and a bonus point win.
“We have got to work hard and stick to your framework, otherwise they will come away with points and punish you.”
Keddie also believes getting into the final eight would be a huge boost for the Rodney Parade squad.
“In any competition you are looking to go well and to have an opportunity to go into the next stage is massive for us,” said the Magor-born forward.
“A lot of the Dragons here have not experienced knockout rugby. It would be a great thing if we could get there as a group.
“The last couple of years we have had these two or three-week periods when we have not been involved in knockout rugby.
“If we can keep it alive and keep pushing forward then that would be fantastic.”
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 (kick-off 8pm). Click HERE to buy tickets or call the Ticket Office on 01633 674990.
We’ve been trying to focus this week on what we need to get out of it, in terms of attack and defence, and trying to implement our game on them...
