Head Coach Dai Flanagan spoke of his pride for his battling Dragons as they dug deep and responded to the criticism of the last week in the best fashion by defeating Scarlets.
Back row Aaron Wainwright grabbed a try on his 100th appearance as the Men of Gwent secured a tense 13-12 victory in horrendous conditions.
Flanagan was thrilled by the manner of the victory – seven days after a painful defeat to Cardiff in the capital.
And after securing a third successive win at Rodney Parade – for the first time since 2020 – he called on his team to build on the success.
“It's been a difficult week, but look at the celebrations, it means a lot,” he said.
“I am super proud of the group. The fundamentals were much better today and that started with the collisions. We had to front up physically and we were good with the scraps and the aerial battles.
“Sam Hobbs in the academy has been helping me with all the collision work, the contact work and defensive breakdown decisions. We looked like a team that was going to be tough to break and we need to see more of that.
“On a night like tonight, it is never going to be pretty. I thought our collisions were just a massive step forward compared to last week and some of youngsters set the tone.
“It was great to see Harri Ackerman and Aneurin Owen controlling the middle of the field. They are young men and playing against Johnny Williams, arguably the most physical 12 in the league, was good for them.
“We were a lot more disciplined, especially in the first 70 minutes, and we didn’t give Scarlets many ins either.
“We’ve got to make sure this is not a one-off now. We’ve got to break the cycle.”
Reflecting on the last seven days, Flanagan added: “This result shows we are not that bad.
“For all the pain that the boys have been through this week, and they know last week was unacceptable, we’re not that bad.
“What was nice tonight was having the ability to bring Leon Brown, Ollie Griffiths and Ryan Woodman off the bench and they really impacted the game.
“We’re built on passion in Gwent and we need to build on wins like this, in these conditions, when it becomes difficult for teams to come here.
“We speak all the time about representing people really well. We need to do that at Rodney Parade first and foremost, then in Wales, then on the road,” added Flanagan.
“At Cardiff we let ourselves down when a lot of our fans came to watch and were as embarrassed as we were. We are three from three now at home and that’s something to build on.”
We’re built on passion in Gwent and we need to build on wins like this, in these conditions, when it becomes difficult for teams to come here...
