Defence Coach Simon Cross has praised the club’s performances on home soil this season – insisting the team will continue to pride themselves on physicality.
Dragons RFC face Zebre Parma in Round 7 of the BKT United Rugby Championship on Saturday evening (kick-off 5.15pm) as they bid to continue an impress run of form at Rodney Parade.
Munster and Ospreys have been defeated while the Cell C Sharks edged a tense encounter by on point.
And Cross has been pleased by the way the team have performed with real spirit and discipline in Newport.
“At Rodney Parade, we are coming for you. That's what we expect from these boys now,” he said.
“We are physical, we work in the tackle, we work after the tackle, we fill the field in D. We really try to turn defence into attack.
“Yes, we make errors, but I am really proud of the effort that we are putting in and the improvements that we are making every week.
“We don't actually do a lot of contact in the week, but we make sure the boys can bring the physicality on the weekend,” he added.
“We don't need to do too much, it's more about knowing your role and doing your job.
“We try and look after the boys as much as possible during the week because they are such a physical group that it's not something that we need to train too much on.
“If you care about a place enough then you are willing to put your body on the line.
“I haven't worked with a group that care as much about their club, teammates, and supporters.
“That's what makes days like Sunday against the Ospreys so special.
“If you look at the quality of the individuals, they are just tough men.
“They love defending, they love hitting things and they love playing in front of that crowd.”
Cross added the task now would be to improve away displays with a trip to South Africa on the horizon at the end of November.
“We have had some discipline issues on the road, which has been disappointing because we had opportunities to really go after sides,” he said.
“At Cardiff and Benetton if we had the bounce of the ball or hadn't given away a silly penalty to lose field position then we really would have had a good chance of winning.
“We have had our moments away from home but have let ourselves down with our discipline.
“We haven't had the same issues at home and that's an area that we are aware of - the intent is right, but we must learn from our mistakes from a discipline side of things.”
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They love defending, they love hitting things and they love playing in front of that crowd...
