Centre Nick Tompkins insists Dragons should not be written off in the big European clash with Bristol Bears insisting: “We will give it our all”.
Dragons travel to Ashton Gate Stadium for the quarter-finals on Friday, September 18 (kick-off 7.45pm) to tackle a Bristol side pushing hard for the English Premiership title.
And Tompkins, a three-times Champions Cup winner with Saracens, claims Dragons will not be overawed by the prospect and will instead relish the challenge against Pat Lam’s much-heralded Bears.
“I definitely wouldn’t be writing us off. We are going to go there and give it our all,” the Wales international told The Rugby Paper.
“I’ve been watching Bristol on TV to see what their strengths and weaknesses are.
“We need to be clued up on the way they play and how they attack and defend. They are very strong and have some unbelievable weapons in attack.
“It’s not just Semi Radradra but Charles Piutau as well. The one thing you can’t afford to do against them is switch off.
“They scored a try from a tap in their 22 against Gloucester and we can’t allow that to happen. That’s the kind of thing they can do,” added the 25-year-old.
“You have to be careful with your kicking game against them because they have players like Piutau and Radradra.
“But there are weaknesses and we will have to try to exploit those.”
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They are very strong and have some unbelievable weapons in attack...
