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Jackman - Tight-knit Dragons will respond to loss

Head Coach Bernard Jackman believes his tight-knit Dragons will keep their heads up and drive forward as they look to respond to defeat to champions Leinster in Dublin.

Ben Mottram | 16/09/2018

Jackman’s men lost out 52-10 to the reigning Guinness PRO14 and European champions as Leinster produced an inspired second half show at the RDS Arena.

But he believes the lessons will be learnt and Dragons can get it right when they return to home soil next Saturday to face Zebre.

“We are a tight-knit group and we are working towards the same goal. We have more leadership now,” said Jackman.

“The challenge last year was that young boy’s heads would drop because they would have a result like that and start to question everything.

“These lads know that it’s part and parcel of the game. We come back in Monday and continue to work on the right things.

“That is why we recruited people like Richard Hibbard, Ross Moriarty, Rhodri Williams and Jordan Williams. They know that it takes a little while to build things.

“That is why I am confident we will get it right. Obviously to get beaten by 50 points by Leinster away we have a long way to go. But let’s see where we are at next week.

“We expect to do well next week. It’s our fourth game and you’ll see improvements.

“Zebre are a threat if the game becomes loose, but we are very much focussed on getting a win next week.

“The level of experience and leadership in the group is better now,” he added. “Everyone knows what a job we have but they are committed to it.  

“The people we recruited knew this wasn’t come in and add icing to the cake, it was come in and be the foundation.

“There were guys we tried to recruit who didn’t want to know about it and that is fine. They are better off being honest.

“But the people we did recruit knew what the Dragons were like, our faults and our weaknesses, and were committed to being part of the change. You have a chance when you have people who want to be part of it.

“We’re better than we were but we still have a huge amount to do.”

Jackman was full of praise for Leinster and the manner in which they performed, but admitted a yellow card to Ross Moriarty on the stroke of half-time had been a turning point.

“Leinster showed why they are the double champions,” he said. “We played the last quarter with 14 men and had that period when Ross was in the bin where we conceded a lot of points.

“I thought we scrambled well the first 30 minutes because Leinster made a lot of line breaks. We weren’t able to stop their offloading ball back inside, but we scrambled well.

“Traditionally when Leinster get five yards out they score. In the first half we stopped that twice, which is really pleasing.

“We held them for 41 minutes, but then they get that five-metre scrum and a smart play, when you have a back row missing, worked. That is how clinical they are. Every time they get down your end they score.

“We’ve had a good chat and we know we need to become hard to beat away from home before we can start thinking about winning.

“Zebre are next up and a team we need to beat. They were very much a focus before this game and that won’t change now.”

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