Captain Steff Hughes has spoken about the next generation of talent coming through the ranks at Dragons RFC – and backed them to continue to make a big impact.
The Men of Gwent will this week be announcing a series of new contracts with exciting young stars coming through the club’s successful Academy production line.
And Hughes believes the future of the club is in good hands as Dragons look to kick on and build.
He said: “The average age of our back line is about 23 now so I feel very old!
“But it’s great and the boys are developing brilliantly and it’s fantastic that the boys are getting their opportunities.
“The financial situation in Wales is well documented, so we must develop our own and we have a really good crop here. It’s exciting to see them all come through and make an impact.”
Reflecting on the recent victory over Zebre, Hughes added: “It has been a tough block. We've played some good teams away from home in Ulster and Glasgow then had the Bulls here, a team full of World Cup winners.
“It was good for us to get that Zebre result even if it wasn't the prettiest performance and our discipline let us down at times along with our accuracy and kicking game.
“But we are just pleased to get the win because a lot of hard work has been put in and we deserve the rub of the green. Hopefully that will give us confidence for the run-in with a lot of games in Wales.
“We’ve had enough times of looking at our work-ons after losing so it will be a good opportunity to be positive and look forward to the next block.
“We’re not playing in Europe so that gives us the chance to get our bodies right and work on different aspects. It’s a brilliant opportunity to get some momentum.
“It’s been tough, but you learn a lot about people around you in those situations. We have some brilliant people here and keep working hard to hopefully have more nights like against Zebre,” concluded Hughes.
Keep an eye across our channels all week for all the #NextGen announcements.
The boys are developing brilliantly and it’s fantastic that the boys are getting their opportunities...
