Anyone who saw Dragons A’s wins against Scarlets and Ospreys Development over the last fortnight will be fully aware that the Gwent pipeline is in rude health.
Several future Dragons hopefulls shone including 18-year-old back-rower Evan Minto with the Abergavenny-born forward scoring twice against Scarlets in an all-action display.
Minto shifted from six to eight against Ospreys and produced a similarly eye-catching display in typically temperamental Welsh weather.
“It was tough," exclaimedd Minto.
"With the conditions we always knew, especially with Ospreys, that they were going to keep it tight and try and bully us up and down the pitch.
“I think we got a lot of joy from keeping it tight but also if we wanted to go wide we were able to capitalise on that.
“At six last week in the lineout I’m not really used to it so it’s nice to be at eight carrying off the lineout. As long as I play it doesn’t bother me whether I’m at six, seven or eight.”
One of those carries nearly saw Minto cross the whitewash again, however he was cut down short, but later set up Oli Burrows in the corner.
“I thought I was in this week but I don’t know what happened and that’s where I cut my nose,” recalls Minto.
“It’s other people working hard to make space and that’s been drilled into us from the start that there’s no individuals in the team, it’s all about working for each other.”
The call up to Dragons A has given Minto and others such as fellow teenage forwards Kobi Rees, Nick Thomas and Ryan Jones an opportunity to learn from experienced heads like second row Joe Davies who has more than 120 senior appearances for the region.
“Learning from these senior boys has been the biggest thing,” said Minto.
“They’re experienced heads. Joe Davies has had 100 plus appearances for Dragons.
“If you’re just watching training you learn a lot from him and I think it’s massively important especially for the young boys to be used to the environment and I’ve definitely learnt a lot.
“Communication is probably the biggest thing, in training, even if we’re just walking through things it’s really loud.
“That’s probably the most important part of playing rugby is there’s 15 players on the pitch and if you don’t know what the person next to you is doing then that’s when mistakes are made.”
With Owen Conquer ruled out through illness, Minto’s switch to eight saw him line up against Ospreys captain Will Griffiths who was making his return to play following a year out with injury.
“It was a good experience playing against Will,” said Minto.
“It’s almost a better way of learning. Watching what he does and when we review the game I’ll be able to watch how he plays and how he sees the game and take it from there really.
“Hopefully now I can push into the Wales under 20s squad.
“Being in the senior environment at Dragons as well, hopefully I can learn as much as I can and push towards getting a first team appearance in the near future.”
Communication is probably the biggest thing, in training, even if we’re just walking through things it’s really loud... If you don’t know what the person next to you is doing then that’s when mistakes are made.
