Filo Tiatia has called on his Dragons to produce a disciplined display against Edinburgh Rugby when the teams clash on Friday evening in the Scottish capital (kick-off 7.35pm).
The Men of Gwent head north for the BKT United Rugby Championship Round 14 fixture after a narrow loss to Ulster on home soil last time out.
Tiatia acknowledges that Edinburgh will be a ‘different beast’ with a number of their Scotland internationals set to return and has pinpointed a key area of focus for his side.
“It will be a heck of a challenge up there. We need to start well and keep applying pressure,” said the Head Coach.
“Edinburgh will be a different beast, depending on how many players are available from the international squad, but we look forward to it.
“There is a focus around tidying up our indiscipline and that gives us a great opportunity to put Edinburgh under pressure.
“We’ve got to be more disciplined in not giving penalties away. We are hurting each other with ill-discipline and allowing teams back into areas that we are trying to protect.
“Like any team, we can beat any other on the day, but it is really the moments we create together and apply pressure that is the difference.
“There are parts of our game where we are our worst enemy, so we have got to keep working on the little things.
“We have a lot of young guys who are slowly maturing and learning at this level, which is a positive thing, but we must take it day by day and focus on our preparation.”
Tiatia has confirmed Matthew Screech and Chris Coleman will miss the game after being forced off against Ulster, but prop Rodrigo Martinez is back in contention.
“We’ve had 48 hours of recovery and getting the boys right; they are outside today and stepping up preparations,” added Tiatia.
“Where we are at with injuries, and we’ve got some players coming back, it is still a lengthy list out.
“We have players who are unavailable in Screechy and Coley. They are much better in terms of their protocols, and that is good news for Screechy who has been out for a little while.
“He has a few tests to tick off, but the target is to be back for the next block.”
We’ve got to be more disciplined in not giving penalties away. We are hurting each other with ill-discipline and allowing teams back into areas that we are trying to protect.
