IT would be understandable if Bruce Douglas was swift to claim a fair chunk of the credit for Newport Gwent Dragons' much-improved scrum but the burgeoning coach is instead quick to point to the players for driving the strides made at the set piece.

The former Scotland prop has been working with the Rodney Parade region one day a week, combining his role as scrum coach with being a player/coach at Cardiff RFC and day job working as a recruitment consultant for Michael Page in the capital.

It's a hectic but enjoyable schedule for the 35-year-old, who made eight appearances for the Dragons on loan from Bristol last season.

"It's good to have Kingsley and Lyn (Jones, head coach and director of rugby at the Dragons) giving me advice and some constructive criticism while (director of rugby) Simon King is fantastic at Cardiff," said Douglas, who won 43 caps.

"It's a fantastic opportunity and from what I have seen the people who move into coaching and do the best are those that come in with a small role because it's a huge step from playing and massively different.

"I always appreciated it would be tough but it's been even more challenging than I expecting.

"I am loving it though and at the Dragons it great to have Lyn and Kingsley giving me advice but also helping me progress by asking me questions and keeping me thinking."

A common theme of the past few years has been the Dragons being marched backwards at the scrum with every knock-on being greeted by a huge groan.

That has changed this season with the region by and large enjoying parity at least with Douglas praising the pack for their efforts and pointing to the influence of some seasoned recruits.

"Boris Stankovich has been massively important, as have Brok Harris and Rynard Landman," he said.

"Boris was at Leicester for years so has learned a thing or two about the scrum and is fantastic to have around. I am on the outside trying to chip in while he is on the inside driving it.

"He met up with Dan Cole (his old Tigers teammate) and some of the stuff that we were working on in pre-season was similar to the stuff that England were doing, so hopefully we are on the right track.

"I think that we have got a good group that are improving and players like Lewis Evans and Andrew Coombs have really been getting into their scrummaging whereas before perhaps they had hated it.

"With coaching you never know if it's going to be long-term or short-term but I'd like to think that I am helping some lads get better and that's all I can hope for."

Meanwhile, the Dragons travelled to London Welsh for a behind closed doors training game yesterday.

The region, who have also held such sessions with Bath, have not played since beating Ulster on Sunday, March 8 and are keen to hit the ground running at Treviso a week on Saturday ahead of the European Rugby Challenge Cup quarter-final with Cardiff Blues.

"There are only so many training sessions you can have and it's better for the players to have a good bit of rugby," said director of rugby Lyn Jones, who is hopeful that captain Lee Byrne will return in Italy after five months out with a shoulder injury.