A five-try performance by the Dragons saw off Worcester Warriors with the home team securing back to back victories at Rodney Parade after finishing the European campaign against Bordeaux in similar fashion towards the end of January.
In the first half Jarryd Sage claimed his first try for the Dragons, plus there was a superb finish by Ashton Hewitt, and in the second half there were scores for Zane Kirchner, Sarel Pretorius and on his return from injury Tyler Morgan bagged the winning touchdown.
"We had asked for two things in the week from the boys– energy and physicality - and the boys dug in and delivered that through the game tonight," said James Chapron, Dragons Academy Manager.
"We gave them a couple of gifts, but I think we had our tenth teenager making his home debut this season so quite a young team out and it was good to put last week’s performance behind us."
The Dragons suffered defeat to English giants Saracens last weekend at Allianz Park but bounced back, with Chapron identifying key areas of improvement.
"We were more accurate and didn’t turn over the ball as easily as last week or give them as much time and space as we had done with Saracens the week before, so by putting Worcester under more pressure and with the skill of our outside backs our tries were exceptional.
"Some of the younger boys in particular held their hands up and we want competition in the squad. From my point of view with the Academy I want players to hold their hand up for first team selection as soon as possible."
Connor Edwards had a good game for the Dragons at centre, but three of the stand out performers Chapron picked out were Zane Kirchner playing with the unfamiliar ten shirt on his back, Ashton Hewitt at full back and Harri Keddie playing only his second match after returning from serious injury, with special praise for Ben Stirling Dragons Head of Physiotherapy and Medical Services and fellow coach Barry Maddocks.
"Zane played ten many years ago," added Chapron, "he is a talented footballer so with his experience it gives him the confidence. Some of his touch line kicking was fantastic, really getting every centre meter out of his kick and even at the end with the penalty he kicks it out, so it means he doesn’t make as many errors as we have done at times.
"Ben Stirling has done a fantastic job with the players returning from injury, Harri Keddie hasn’t played in months after coming back from a shoulder injury and has come through two physical games so credit to the medical team and to Harri for how he has applied himself so back row is going to be a tough selection for us going forwards.
Ashton’s try was a fantastic finish. We want to try and play rugby, particularly at home we want to excite the crowd and make the region proud and that first phase try by Ashton was straight off the training ground in fairness to Barry.
The Dragons next face Glasgow next Friday as the Guinness Pro14 returns to Rodney Parade and Chapron knows the win will help the region build momentum into the next round of fixtures with more players such as Tyler Morgan now due to play a role once more.
"The win gives us confidence and winning breeds better training, everyone comes back in on Monday in a better mood so we can get more out of it so we’re looking forward to how the boys build towards Glasgow next week.
"It’s great to have Tyler back on the field, he’s a quality player. I think he had half a line break out of nothing, with his pace and that’s something we’re building here with our outside backs. Three of our back three can run over 10 metres per second which is quick and Tyler has got that too, so it’s great for Tyler to come through the game and be back with us."
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