Head Coach Filo Tiatia praised both Dragons and Zebre for producing a thrilling EPCR Challenge Cup quarter final in Parma – as his Men of Gwent created history and booked a place in the last four.
Tries from Harrison Keddie (2), Fine Inisi and Elliot Dee – plus 15 points from the boot of Angus O’Brien - saw the Men of Gwent book a last four semi-final with Montpellier in May - and first semi-final appearance since 2016.
“We’re very happy. We are representing the people of Gwent but also the people of Wales,” he said.
“I’m proud of getting over the line. The last ten minutes we need to tighten up on a couple of things, but overall proud of the effort of the players and grateful to get through.
“The first half we concede too many penalties and with the two yellow cards we were under the pump and kept Zebre in the game,” he added.
“It was just our lack of discipline and easy turnovers, and we wanted to limit both of those in the second half. We needed to make some changes around our mentality and possession.
“We came away with some points at the start of the second half and got our nose in front.
“We tried to stay in front for the last ten minutes and they fought hard; they are a proud nation and a tough bunch here.
“It was a fight. The collisions were tasty and a hotly contested match.
“I thought Zebre were very good the last ten minutes, and they scored two tries through the effort and offload game.
“There are things we need to tidy up. How we stay on mentally, but at the end of the day it is about who wins the game and we held on.”
Dragons next face Montpellier in May for a place in the ECPR Challenge cup final in Bilbao.
But Tiatia admitted the focus now needed to switch to league hostilities and the visit of Vodacom Bulls next week.
“We’re looking forward to the semi-final – we have some big games coming up,” said Tiatia.
“We have Bulls next week at Rodney Parade on Friday and then we are back here in Italy. We’ll get ready and look forward to the challenges ahead.”
There are things we need to tidy up. How we stay on mentally, but at the end of the day it is about who wins the game and we held on...
