Boss Dean Ryan has urged his Dragons to keep rising to the challenge of Guinness PRO14 action without the region’s international stars.
Aaron Wainwright, Ross Moriarty, Cory Hill, Leon Brown, Elliot Dee and Taine Basham have all been involved in the Wales squad during the Guinness Six Nations.
Director of Dragons Rugby Ryan also revealed that fly half Sam Davies has also been involved with Wales training this week.
However, after a five-game undefeated run in all competitions on home soil, Ryan is keen for his players to meet the challenge of Benetton Rugby when the teams meet in Friday (kick-off 7.35pm).
“We’ve always taken the attitude that we have got to get more players into Wales so we have got to support that,” said Ryan.
“We don’t know selection this week but Sam has been in to help and the more people involved the better for Dragons.
“We’ve challenged the group left here to keep developing. There were some frustrations in performance terms in the win over Cheetahs, but you have to put that into context.
“We had lots of players under-23 playing against a side that doesn’t have any international commitments, has been together for three weeks with a big set piece and we still get a win.
“We haven’t won without our internationals for years. Although it might seem like a small step it is a big step.
“We want people to get involved with Wales, but also develop the young group that sits below it. Although it wasn’t pretty against Cheetahs it was a win.
“For Josh Reynolds to hold a full-on African scrum out and get into our 22 is a huge step,” he added.
“For Ellis Shipp to play 80 minutes, for Will Talbot-Davies to come back. These names are all under-23 players.
“We ended up with a third of our squad being young, running an age group side in a PRO14 competition and getting a win.
“Let’s hope our players do get in the Welsh squad and let’s hope we keep making strides behind them.”
Dragons are back in action on Friday evening when we face Benetton Rugby in a re-arranged Guinness PRO14 clash at Rodney Parade (kick-off 7.35pm). Please note, ALL original match tickets remain valid. To buy tickets for the fixture call 01633 674990 or click HERE
We had lots of players under-23 playing against a side that doesn’t have any international commitments, has been together for three weeks with a bit set piece... and we still get a win.
