Boss Dean Ryan has challenged his Dragons to take the opportunity to impress when they face Cardiff Rugby in the United Rugby Championship at the Arms Park on Saturday (kick-off 5.15pm).
Dragons will look to return to winning ways in the capital but will be without six internationals with Elliot Dee, Will Rowlands, Ben Carter, Taine Basham, Aaron Wainwright and Ross Moriarty all absent with Wales.
However, Director of Dragons Rugby, Ryan, wants his squad to embace the opportunity to shine in the derby as the region finishes the first block of league fixtures before a four-week break.
“You look at the areas where we have players away (with Wales) and they are strong areas for us,” said Ryan.
“These are the windows where you can shift the pecking order, other players can put a marker down and get into what is a very competitive area of our team.
“There isn’t always a huge window of opportunity when people are fit - this is one in a derby game, which is fantastic. We look forward to seeing how people perform.
“With Ross (Moriarty) not being here, Aaron (Wainwright) not being here and Taine (Basham), the likes of Ollie (Griffiths) will certainly come to the fore and the likes of Harrison Keddie, who was outstanding in Connacht.
“We are looking forward to seeing those guys because they are very much part of the strength of that area of the team.”
Ryan has revealed centre Jack Dixon and full back Jordan Williams are back in contention for selection after missing last week.
And reflecting on the defeat to Stormers on home soil, Ryan acknowledges lessons have been learnt as they look to move forward.
“We have looked at the positives, especially in the first half when we were on the attack. We created opportunities,” said Ryan.
“But we are also critical of ourselves and the momentum swing. There was a change of tactics in the second half and we didn’t adapt to them and effectively put ourselves under pressure.
“Like all games, there are elements we want to learn from and will learn from. They are not necessarily applicable just to this weekend coming, they are about us getting better in the long-term.
“There have been a couple of games where we have seen the best of ourselves, and a couple where we have struggled to adapt to changes in the opposition.
“We can only just keep reviewing, keep learning and keep trying to apply those things with each game to get better.”
These are windows where you can shift the pecking order, other players can put a marker down and get into what is a very competitive area of our team...
