Dean Ryan insisted his Dragons will keep learning and get better after an impressive 34-17 pre-season victory over regional rivals Scarlets at Rodney Parade.
Fly half Sam Davies marked his home debut with a 14-point haul – including a second half try – while wide men Owen Jenkins (2), Ashton Hewitt and Will Talbot-Davies all crossed the whitewash.
The victory ensured Dragons lifted the Worthington’s Challenge Trophy and built confidence ahead of the Guinness PRO14 opener with Munster later this month.
However, Director of Dragons Rugby Ryan is keen to keep feet firmly on the ground and insisted the team was still very much a work in progress.
“It’s not about keeping our feet on the ground after a friendly, it’s about keeping feet on the ground for a long time,” he said.
“We have got a lot of work to do and teams don’t come from new voices and from one-off results, they come from months and years of good investment, good support, good environment and a willingness from the group to get better. We have that and just have to start that journey together.
“I am pleased, we worked really hard. It was our first hit out and we saw some of those combinations come together after training hard,” he added.
“I was pleased with how much effort we put in and there are some bits that we can be better at and we can learn as a team.
“This group has challenged itself to keep learning because they recognise that they have got a long way to go. As a starting point, we know where we are.
“There are lots of things against the Scarlets that we didn’t do very well and we have to improve in those areas, because other days that will take the game away from us. Then, for all the good things we do, we will find ourselves on the wrong end of results.
“It’s just a good starting point. We have played together now after a long pre-season, so we now know the areas we can focus on to get better.”
The only negative for Ryan was Samoa lock Brandon Nansen being forced off with injury after 13 minutes on his comeback.
Nansen was featuring for the first time since the New Year, but Dragons will now await medical reports on the big second row.
“It looks like he got a whack on his forearm and we will wait to see what that is,” added Ryan.
This group has challenged itself to keep learning because they recognise that they have got a long way to go...
