Boss Dean Ryan wants his Dragons to embrace the emotion of derby day with Scarlets – but insists it must be controlled to secure Guinness PRO14 success.
Dragons welcome Scarlets to Rodney Parade on Saturday afternoon (kick-off 5.15pm) for the first game of the Welsh derby festive season – with games against Cardiff Blues and Ospreys to follow.
Ryan is relishing his first taste of a Welsh derby on home soil and admits there has been a ‘real buzz’ to training all week.
However, he acknowledged that emotions must be kept in check in what is sure to be a partisan atmosphere in Newport.
“Derbies are great for fans because it is a great thing to get behind and over the Christmas period too,” he said.
“I have obviously not done a Welsh derby before. I just think they are fantastic because they heighten the excitement around a game.
“Your challenge is to moderate your emotions and make sure that you get things right - I am really looking forward to it,” he added.
“As a coach, your role is to keep people calm and keep people focussed. You can lose a lot of emotion that comes into play when you know the bloke so well.
“It’s important you prepare well and get as much clarity as you can about what you are trying to do.
“You shouldn’t hide from emotion, I think emotion is key, but you need to ally it to some clarity over what you are trying to do.”
Meanwhile, Ryan has revealed lock Brandon Nansen and wing Jared Rosser could feature over the festive derby season. “Brandon is back training. It is important that we get him into the right space now,” he said.
“He has missed a lot of time with everything new. When you miss it all out you are catching up so it is a big challenge for him.
“Jared is close too. Not close enough, but we will probably see him feature over the Christmas period which is great.
“I haven’t seen him yet so to be talking now, at Christmas, about people I haven’t seen is good because they are close.
“I think we are getting some competition in some key areas,” he added.
“We talk about the back row, but the front row against Worcester, to come on and get two penalties in the last 20 minutes, probably swung the game.
“Centres is another area where I don’t think we are fixed. We can look at things tactically, rather than we need people to play.
“In the back row, where we now have depth, we can really drive some energy through.
“That is all part of the jigsaw. There is still a long way to go, we still need some strength in depth in other areas. But it’s a nice place to be talking about.”
Don’t miss out on derby day we tackle Scarlets at Rodney Parade this Saturday afternoon (kick-off 5.15pm). Tickets are on sale NOW – click HERE to buy online.
As a coach, your role is to keep people calm and keep people focussed... You can lose a lot of emotion that comes into play when you know the bloke so well...
