Dai Flanagan demanded his Dragons play with more intent and bemoaned an ‘unacceptable’ start as they fell to a 40-7 defeat to Glasgow Warriors in the BKT United Rugby Championship.
The depleted Men of Gwent suffered more misery at Scotstoun Stadium as the Warriors wrapped up a bonus point win to climb to second the standings.
Head Coach Flanagan conceded an error-strewn display from his Dragons had been summed up by a poor star as they conceded twice inside the first four minutes in Scotland.
The injury issues only deepened as Cai Evans, George Young, Jared Rosser, and Rhodri Jones picked up injuries.
But Flanagan refused to let that stand as any excuse as he called on Dragons to take responsibility for individual battles and improve fast.
“We gave two easy tries for Glasgow at the start. We had three men in contact and their guy popped out of the side,” he stated.
“It’s not acceptable the first play of the match. We need to be hitting them and putting them on the deck.
“Our changing room is like a war zone and for some periods it was like men versus kids. We’ve got to improve them quick.
“We’ve also got to stick with this young group going forward because it’s not going to change anytime soon, and we’ve got to get better.
“It was bitterly disappointing,” he added. “We had an experienced starting team and to concede 14 points so quick was tough.
“We’ve got a few concussions, we’ve got dead legs, we’ve got a torn pec, shoulder issue.
“It’s a brutal changing room, but that is the game. It’s physical and we’ve got to catch-up quick.”
Reflecting on why the game had got away so fast, Flanagan added: “A lot was down to intent.
“When someone runs at you it is personal and you have got to finish that, and we didn’t, and they did. That’s why we have come off the wrong side.
“The away form could be physiological. But talking about it and feeling sorry for ourselves isn’t going to help, we need to make it better.
“We’ve got to front up and finish with more intent in everything we do.”
Oli Andrew and Sam Scarfe made club debuts in Scotland, but Flanagan insisted he needed to be watchful with how he continues to integrate young players.
“We’ve got to be careful with how these youngsters learn,” he stressed
. “To come up here and concede 14 points in a few minutes, you are never going to win the game. Then we have the sloppiness in the second half.
“There is a balancing act, and how we do that is on me and the coaches to put our game together.
“It’s mixed emotions after a game like that. We put some youngsters on the field who can walk away with their chests held high.
“I thought Che (Hope) and Sam (Scarfe) added massive intent, but it is 40-7 so there is disappointment running through my mind.“
It’s not acceptable the first play of the match... We need to be hitting them and putting them on the deck...
