Centre Jamie Roberts called on Dragons to start building momentum as they recorded a first win of the season in the Guinness PRO14 with a maximum point haul over Zebre.
Roberts grabbed his first try for the region – to add to scores from Jordan Williiams (2) and Elliot Dee - and was later named man-of-the-match as he impressed at Rodney Parade.
Zebre had threatened an unlikely comeback when down to 14 men with a score against the run of play cutting the lead.
But it was Dean Ryan’s men who emerged victories and, after tough away dates at Bristol Bears in Europe and champions Leinster in the league, Roberts is now eager to look forward.
“For 35 minutes we played some really good stuff, didn’t mess around too much in our own half and we had spoken about it in the week,” he said.
“We failed to covert in that last five minutes and they went under our sticks – that is a 14-point swing.
“We’ve had a bit of a telling off in the changing room at half-time and rightly so. It’s about that lack of control in the last five minutes.
“Second half I thought out half backs were great. We made sure we didn’t over play against a Zebre side that was always going to bring line speed.
“They are a step above what they have been in previous seasons and I think our class showed through in the end.
“Zebre have a strong pack, a strong maul and they won a few penalties off us so we will look at that.
“But we’ve a tough start to the season, playing Bristol away after not playing much rugby and then we go the Leinster.
“It’s the best environment for us to learn in. It’s a young group with a lot of growth potential and some of the lads are really stepping up and now know what playing at this level.
“Now we need to build on this performance. It’s been a tough start to the season, but hopefully we can build some momentum off this.”
Now we need to build on this performance... It’s been a tough start to the season, but hopefully we can build some momentum off this...
