Young playmaker Will Reed is hoping Dragons RFC can end the club’s poor away day record and celebrate his new contract in style when they play in Italy this afternoon against Benetton Rugby (kick-off 2pm UK).
Reed put pen to paper on new terms this week to remain with the Men of Gwent after a season where he has made 16 appearances.
The 22-year-old fly half is again named in the ten jersey at Stadio Monigo as Dragons look to end a long run since away day success in the BKT United Rugby Championship.
“I’m delighted to sign for another two years and hopefully continue to develop and grow over those next few seasons,” said Cwmbran-born Reed earlier thjis week.
“It’s been a massive season for me and I've played a lot of rugby this year. As a young player, that’s all you can ask for.
“It's been a tough learning curve, some weeks especially, but I think the lessons I've learned along the way will only benefit me further down the line. I have loved it, and I can't complain about the minutes I've had.
“We’ve used this recent break from games as a positive,” he added. “It has given us time to really learn and analyse properly. Sometimes when we're in a run of say eight games on the bounce, you constantly quickly learn then move on.
“You don't really take your learnings as efficiently as you would if you had an extra week or an extra couple of days to recover and review from that.
“I’ve really enjoyed this part of the season. I feel like it’s benefited my learning off the field a lot, given me time to really hone in on the areas that I need to get a lot better at.
“As a team, it's benefited us a lot and we are now looking forward to getting back on the pitch this weekend.”
Looking at today’s opponents Benetton, Reed added: “Over the last couple of years they've developed massively in all aspects of their game and they're a very well rounded team.
“You just look at the number of international players they have going out every week and you look at the Italian team and it is pretty similar.
“For us, we're just focusing on ourselves, trying to be as accurate, as clinical, and as physical as we can be.
“That’s the game at the end of the day and if we take care of that, then whatever Benetton throw at us is on us to cope with it.
“We've had a massive emphasis this week, the intensity in training has been high. The boys are really excited for the challenge ahead.”
It's been a tough learning curve, some weeks especially, but I think the lessons I've learned along the way will only benefit me further down the line...
