Captain Harri Keddie has called on Dragons to produce a clinical show on home soil today – as he prepares to make his first appearance of the season at Rodney Parade.
Keddie will lead the team as they return to United Rugby Championship (URC) action after a break since late October for international rugby.
The back row admits there was frustration in the camp at not closing out more games in the opening five weeks of the campaign.
But now back home in Newport, Keddie is keen for Dragons to now kick on and show the benefits of the recent spell on the training field.
“It’s been a strange time without games,” said the 25-year-old, who has made 82 appearances in his career for the region.
“It’s been a big training block and we have used it well to reflect on the first few games and we are ready to go now heading into this big block up to Christmas and into the New Year.
“We’ve rested up the boys who needed it and now it will be intense week on week.
“There are a lot of games in a short space of time, so we need to keep on top of it and be ready to go week on week.
“We were frustrated not to get a few more wins in the first block,” he added. “When we look back on the results there were definitely more points in those games for us.
“We’ve spoken as a group about what we need to be better at and there are certain areas where we need to be more clinical.
“We got in a lot of positions in the first four or five weeks of the season where we were competitive and ‘in’ all the games.
“The last five or ten minutes is about how we change our behaviours to make sure we close out tight games and turn those losing bonus points into wins.”
Edinburgh arrive at Rodney Parade riding high in fourth place in the URC standings after three wins and a draw in five games.
And Keddie has been impressed by the way the Scottish side have adapted under new Head Coach Mike Blair.
“Edinburgh are in a transitional period with new coaches,” he said. “They are playing a lot more expansive rugby than they have done typically over the last few years.
“But they have still got a good foundation with their set piece, and they are still a good scrummaging and mauling team and are very accurate at getting out of their own half.
“They have added layers to it and more of an attacking game from deeper in their own half.”
On a personal note, Keddie will make only his third appearance of the season and is excited about getting back out in front of the home faithful.
“I can’t wait to get back to Rodney Parade,” he said. “I haven’t played there with a crowd yet, as I missed the first few games.
“I picked up a little hamstring injury in pre-season and got a knock on the head on Connacht - it has been a bit of a slow, frustrating start to the season, but these things happen.
“I’m ready to go now and excited about getting back on home soil.”
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