Boss Dean Ryan was pleased that his Dragons once again showed how competitive they are – but admitted it was mixed emotions after a narrow 16-12 loss to Cardiff Blues in the Guinness PRO14.
Taine Basham and Matthew Screech grabbed tries at Cardiff Arms Park, but it was the hosts that held on in a tense finale to take the victory.
“Your emotions all always a bit mixed after a game like that,” admitted Ryan. “It always hurts a bit when you are in something so close and not to get it.
“I am pretty pleased and proud of how competitive we are and how we are working things out in games.
“For us to be in a contest away from home, five days after winning against the Scarlets, I am pretty proud of our group.
“We’ll just talk about doing that regularly and getting better at understanding how to make that next step because we had a chance at the end but didn’t really manipulate that situation to pull the trigger.”
“It was a game where I don’t think people necessarily valued the same things as we did – we didn’t get anything from our scrum and we didn’t get anything from the driving lineout," he added.
“The Blues did a pretty good job at slowing our ball down, which made it a pretty difficult place for us. I am not sure where you are supposed to go when that happens, normally you would go to your drive but we weren’t getting anything from that.
“Credit to the Blues defensively, they were pretty hard to break down. I’m not sure I would the same interpretation of people around the contact area but they did a pretty good job of slowing us down.
“That made it difficult for us because if you can’t go to the scrum, you can’t go your drive and you can’t get fast ball then it’s a big old pitch to try and find a different answer.”
Ryan also praised man-of-the-match Basham who again impressed in a back row alongside Wales internationals Ross Moriarty and Aaron Wainwright.
“Taine has got moments that are right up there; but I think games like today, in that sort of company, it is about doing the basics well.
“People have to recognise he is a good player. It doesn’t matter about his age or his experience, if you can play alongside Aaron and Ross mand be recognised you are a good player. He is rising to every challenge."
Watch the Dragons when Derby day returns for the opening game of 2020 as we welcome Ospreys to Rodney Parade on Saturday (kick-off 3pm). Click HERE to buy your tickets and join us for more top Guinness PRO14 action.
For us to be in a contest away from home, five days after winning against the Scarlets, I am pretty proud of our group...
