Co-captain Angus O’Brien knows more than most how Dragons have the memories of 2014 to inspire them when they face Stade Francais Paris in the French capital on Sunday afternoon.
The Men of Gwent will be in action at Stade Jena Bouin in the EPCR Challenge Cup this weekend – 12 years on from a stunning result that remains on the club’s biggest European victories.
Dragons upset the odds when they defeated the Parisians in 2014 as they stormed to a 38-22 success in France.
O’Brien was a key figure that day scoring 18 points as a late call-up into the side for Jason Tovey.
“It was one of my first starts for the club,” said O’Brien this week.
“I was a young 20-year-old back then. We have great memories from that fixture and a great win out there. Hopefully we can repeat it.
“It was my first season being in a senior environment,” he added.
“I was a young kid back then and it gave me the confidence. I'd only really played for Cross Keys before that, which was great experience. But to have that first start out at Stade, and to get a win, it was massive.
“I'd been on the bench a few times before that. I'd had a little bit of game time, but it was my first start, probably a little bit unexpectedly, and I grasped the opportunity and loved it.
“It’s similar circumstances in terms of the expectation from us as a group it is within the circle.
“We’ve got to take belief the fact we've been out there and we've won there before.
“There are actually a few members of the team back then still playing. Myself, Elliot and Screechy are still involved. We can pass those memories on; we've just got to go out there and believe that we can get a result.”
Stade will start the game as favourites after a season that has seen them rise to second spot in the French Top 14.
However, O’Brien insists Dragons must focus on themselves if they are to get a positive result.
“We know they're a good team, and they bring a lot of different challenges. But we're focusing on ourselves and implementing our game on them,” he stated.
“We know they're dangerous, a good attacking outfit, so we know what we've got to bring both sides of the ball.
“It’s more about it being an exciting opportunity for us to be in the knockout stages of Europe and really get after it.
“There has been a good feeling this week. We’re going into a different competition off the back of two good performances out in South Africa.
“We feel a little bit disappointed we didn't come away with a little bit more from South Africa. But there's plenty of things we can build on from those two weeks that'll lead us into this week now, which is exciting.
“We're going out there with a lot of confidence, a lot of belief and with the expectation to get a result - that's how we've got to view it.”
O’Brien – who recently signed a contract extension with his home club – hit a memorable milestone of his own last weekend as he clocked up 500 points.
He became only the fourth player to reach 500 and admitted a lot had changed since his first points back in September 2014.
“Probably the main thing has changed is my hair,” he joked.
“I've been at the club a long time, from one of the youngsters going out to Stade and playing to now being one of the senior guys.
“It’s a little bit of a different role for me now, but one that I love doing.
“I was aware of the landmark, but I'm not really into the individual achievements. I'd rather us win than me do that.
“The way I look at it, the more points I score, the better we're playing.
“To look back at my time at the Dragons with something like scoring 500 points is a nice achievement. Now I need to try and score 500 more!”
We have great memories from that fixture and a great win out there. Hopefully we can repeat it...
