Lock Joe Maksymiw believes Dragons need to increase their levels of accuracy following a 12-0 loss to Ulster at a stormy Rodney Parade.
The Men of Gwent took on the Irish in difficult conditions but in a tight and physical contest it was the Ulster men that came out on top thanks to tries from Marcus Rea and John Andrew.
The loss continues the Dragons run of games without a win despite some impressive individual performances from the Dragons pack.
One of the players to shine was Maksymiw as the line-out functioned well under his direction, restricting Ulster to winning only nine out of 19 on their own throw.
But the 26-year-old believes it was the lack of accuracy that cost his side as they did not make enough of the wind advantage in the first half.
“With Ulster obviously the conditions dictated the game I thought the boys really dug in and I thought the collective effort was good," he said.
“The levels of accuracy probably weren’t there and we didn’t take advantage of that wind in the first half.”
The Derby born forward continued: “It was a tough day, very tough, very windy I don’t actually know the stats but I felt like we got up well against their line-out and put them under a lot of pressure.
“It’s not just me doing the line-out you got Taylor (Davies) and Elliot (Dee) throwing as well and these conditions are very tough for a hooker, but I thought as a collective unit we worked really well together.
“I think the difference was like Dean touched on was we needed to take more of an advantage in that first half with the weather. We gave away a pen in their 22m and didn’t take advantage of the wind enough.”
Dragons face a series of away games next with a trip to Cork to take on Munster in the United Rugby Championship in just two weeks time.
Maksymiw believes the team can take some momentum into the game following the manner of the second half performance against Ulster.
“Going into Munster next it’s obviously a very difficult place to go," he added. "But the boys can take a lot of pride and confidence from that performance and head to Ireland and rip into Munster.”
It was a tough day, very tough, very windy I don’t actually know the stats but I felt like we got up well against their line-out and put them under a lot of pressure...
