SOME supporters might head to Rodney Parade this evening expecting us to dish out a hammering to Zebre but I can assure you that nobody has been thinking that way in training this week.

They were beaten 61-13 at Cardiff Blues last weekend and conceded 11 tries but no professional sides go into games expecting an easy ride. Do that and you’d be in for a big surprise.

We respect Zebre – look at their game at the Blues and you will see that they were dangerous in the first 30 minutes and were leading 6-5 until they shipped a few tries before the break and things then went against them.

They might be without a large number of Italy internationals but they are no mugs; they will be a proud bunch and will be hurting about what happened at the Arms Park.

We’ve just got to look after our own performance and stick to what we’ve been working on. We can’t afford to panic or rush. The aim is to build a lead and if we can then push on then great.

We want to play attractive rugby and impress our fans but it’s about winning first and foremost – I think everyone would be more disappointed if we lost while trying to play fancy stuff when it’s not on.

In the past we have been guilty of being our own worst enemy, trying for that miracle pass at the wrong time and shooting ourselves in the foot.

We can’t do that tonight because if you give Italian sides a sniff it really gets them fired up and they become determined to demolish everything in their path.

It’s my first proper run out of the season after being named in the XV for Connacht last week only to suffer a slight elbow injury in training... all that after coming through my first pre-season unscathed.

The analysis of our 29-23 loss at the Sportsground shows that there were plenty of positives despite a frustrating loss; we could have won it when the boys fought back to 22-20 with a few minutes left before conceding a breakaway try from turnover ball.

I think we were good value for a bonus point but we also know that we can’t afford to make that many individual errors – you need 13 or 14 players to be on the top of their game to win away at Irish or Scottish sides.

However, we showed glimpses of what we can do and hopefully you’ll see us build on that tonight.

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I’M part of the Newport RFC coaching team this season and the boys were fantastic when winning 26-22 at the Gnoll last weekend.

It was unusual playing with the new points system – six for tries, two for penalties and drop goals – that is being trialled in the Principality Premiership and it was a test of my maths skills.

The idea is to encourage more running rugby but it will be interesting to see what happens in the winter weather and I’d imagine there will be plenty more driving lineouts.

I was delighted with how our pack went at the Gnoll, our scrum was outstanding, flanker Ollie Griffhts was fantastic and fly-half Matt O’Brien ran the show on his return from injury.

It was a great performance and hopefully we’ll keep on building in a tough derby at Ebbw Vale on Saturday.