Centre Steff Hughes believes Dragons have set a benchmark they cannot afford to deviate from after the hugely impressive Judgement Day victory over Scarlets.
Hughes was among the try scorers in the capital as the Men of Gwent ended the BKT United Rugby Championship season on a high with a 31-14 bonus point win over the West Walians.
Dragons now have a long period without games - with the Rugby World Cup in France before league hostilities resume later in 2023.
That means plenty of time to work on the training paddock and Hughes is determined to use that period wisely - and believes the final day victory gives Dragons new renewed energy and belief.
He said: “Throughout the season we’ve been looking for a complete performance, an 80-minute performance, and I thought we were excellent on Judgement Day.
“We started the game positively and then we have dug in at the end, been really disciplined to win against a good team.
“For us moving forward, that’s got to be a benchmark of where we want to be.
“It’s a great feeling, getting results like that and playing as well as we did, so for us that’s got to be a given. If we do that we’ll be in games and we’ll win games.
“I think Judgement Day was a perfect representation of us as a group, how hard we can work, what we are trying to achieve,” he added.
“At times we probably haven’t achieved where we’ve needed to be this year, so it’s brilliant to be able to go into pre-season and use that game as the benchmark.
“We need to maintain those standards and make sure our behaviours are good and based on that performance.
“It’s important for us to be able to look back on that game in pre-season, look at what good looks like for us, understand what good looks like, the standards we have set.
“The display was spot on so it’s a perfect finish to the season, a great benchmark for us to work from.”
I think Judgement Day was a perfect representation of us as a group, how hard we can work, what we are trying to achieve...
