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We must handle pressure of huge game - Jackman

Head Coach Bernard Jackman admits Dragons must deal with the pressure when they face Edinburgh Rugby on home soil in the Guinness PRO14 later this month.

Ben Mottram | 05/11/2018

After successive defeats in Ireland to Ulster and Connacht, the Dragons return to Rodney Parade to face Edinburgh on Sunday, November 25 (kick-off 5.30pm). 

Jackman concedes the pressure on that game has only been increased by recent performances on the road.

However, he has backed his players to learn from the mistakes of recent weeks and perform after the break from league action. 

“Edinburgh is now a huge game - but we have got to be able to handle that,” he said.

“Throughout the course of any season there is always big games and by not getting a win the last two weeks we have ramped up the pressure on ourselves and we’ve got to deal with it.

“November has come at a good time for us,” he added. “We have a week off to refresh and recharge and then two weeks until we play Edinburgh. 

“They have got to be two massive weeks, in terms of cutting out the mistakes we have made.

“I’m confident we will get it right and when we do it will flow. Getting it right is the hard part, getting that one big performance when the guys get confidence.

“It might have been just converting one of those early chances (at Connacht), getting a lead, which in theory we should have. But some of our basic skills let us down.”

Jackman has also called on his team to not switch off at vital times adding: “We are fit enough, we have got enough talent and our systems are decent. It’s that ability to be resilient in the moment and not switch off.

“We saw that against Ulster. We score before half-time and then, with minutes left until the break, we make a mess of the restart and concede. That is not playing from whistle to whistle.

“You saw that in Connacht too. When we make a knock-on or don’t convert, we have got to play to the whistle.

“We put a great kick in during the first half, from Daf Howells, but only put two in the kick chase line and they then go 80 metres.

“When he (Howells) puts that kick in everyone eases off for a second expecting him to make a tackle and then they are under our posts. 

“That is a harsh lesson but unfortunately at the moment we seem to want to learn the hard way rather than the easy way. It’s not nice but that is where we are at and we have got to fix it.”

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