Prop Lloyd Fairbrother has hailed the unity in the squad at Dragons - and believes the epic late rear-guard defensive show last weekend showed how much the players care for the region, writes Gavin Barrett.
Dragons defeated Glasgow Warriors 26-17 at Principality Stadium last Sunday, keeping their Champions Cup qualification hopes alive.
Dean Ryan’s men will need a little bit of help from Italian outfit Benetton who play Glasgow today (Saturday) while the Men of Gwent will need an impressive victory against Edinburgh in Cardiff tomorrow (Sunday).
Fairbrother - a mainstay in the front row this season - believes there is something different in the air within the camp over the last month and the win over Glasgow underlined that unified spirit.
“There is something slightly different about the way we are approaching games and the way we are feeling in the game,” he said. “We are all just really enjoying it, it means a lot to us.
“We care about this region; we care about each other and that showed in that last ten minutes against Glasgow. They threw everything at us and it didn’t matter.
“It wasn’t about organisation or how to tackle, it was just because we cared and it was brilliant, it was so good to be a part of."
Dragons face a difficult task in the race for fourth spot in Conference A - which could potentially mean a spot in next season’s Champions Cup.
But Fairbrother, who has made over a century of appearances for Dragons, insists the squad will just go as hard as they can and see where they are afterwards.
“We have taken the outside stuff away from our prep. There is not much we can do other than rock up and just go at it,” said the man from Cornwall.
“We have had a couple of good runs down at the stadium, we are in a good place as a squad and we are just going to go.
“It doesn’t matter who they’re going to bring down or where we are in the last 20 minutes. We are going to go as hard as we can and let that take care of itself, that is our sort of mindset heading into the game.”
Boss Dean Ryan has praised the physicality of his side in recent weeks and Fairbrother believes the loss to Italian outfit Zebre in Parma was a turning point.
“We knew, as a squad, it was a game we should have won, and we just weren’t at the races,” he admitted.
“From that point on we just really zoned in as a squad and it didn’t really matter if we were playing in a park or a massive stadium - we had to get to a better level and against Ulster we found it.
“Against Glasgow we upped it again and we were even more physical.
“There has definitely been a shift over the last month. We are not sure what that answer is yet, but we definitely keep dipping our toes into it and finding it.”
Dragons welcome the return of Welsh internationals Aaron Wainwright, Elliot Dee and Leon Brown into the squad for Sunday’s crucial clash.
In-form duo Fairbrother and hooker Richard Hibbard have both kept their spots in the starting 15 despite the return of Dee and Brown.
Fairbrother is happy to keep his place but has praised the squad mentality at the region.
He said: “I’ve really enjoyed my rugby over the last month or so, had some pretty decent games and I enjoyed last week. The set piece went well.
“Browner coming back is just a great addition, I can just go as hard as I can now and then he will come on and do his thing, so it’s good.
“Me, Brok (Harris) and Hibbz have had a lot of games together over the last month or two and it’s clicking well; we have put some big shifts in.
“It’s a real sort of squad mentality here and the competition is good.
“There is no bitterness between players or pointing the finger at anyone. It’s all about getting better, working hard and whatever team represents the Dragons on the weekend you know they will be going fully at it.”
We care about this region; we care about each other and that showed in that last ten minutes against Glasgow... They threw everything at us and it didn’t matter...
