CAPTAIN Cory Hill says the Dragons' big players went missing on opening weekend – and that they must lead the charge to end their 11-month wait for a Guinness PRO14 win against Southern Kings.

The Rodney Parade region have the change to right the wrongs of their 21-17 loss to Benetton when they entertain the South Africans on Saturday (kick-off 3pm).

The Dragons produced an error-strewn performance in round one that led to head coach Bernard Jackman issuing a mea culpa.

However, Wales lock Hill says that it is the squad that must cop the flak after misfiring – especially their high-profile players.

"We all have off days, unfortunately ours was in the first game of the season and I am sure there were six other PRO14 teams having the same review that we did after a loss," said the skipper.

"The harsh reality is that we didn't turn up. Individually we weren't good enough and our big players didn't step up, me included. We are buzzing to put that right."

Hill says that the players were swift to admit their failings when the Dragons gathered in Ystrad Mynach on Monday morning.

"It wasn't a pretty performance and that was down to individual errors," said the lock, who played in all 12 of Wales' internationals last season.

"If we had played well, stuck to the systems and lost then we would have been scratching our heads, but all the boys have held up their hands and said that individually we weren't good enough.

"I don't think you can go through a game making that many individual errors and dropping the ball that many times and come out with a win.

"We went in the final minutes four points down and I couldn't really work that out because we had made so many mistakes; to be within winning distance was pretty weird.

"We've reviewed the game, taken a hard look at ourselves individually and know what we have to fix. If we catch the ball it goes a long way!

"If tactically we were wrong then the coaches hold their hands up, but unfortunately we didn't put the tactics into place because we didn't keep hold of the ball for long enough and we didn't put Benetton under pressure like they did to us.

"That means players have to hold their hands up, at the end of the day we get paid to go out and get results. Playing like we did last Saturday we won't get many.

"We have to up our game and I am sure it was just a one-off. Everyone is confident for this weekend and I am sure we will put things right."

The Dragons management are mulling over their XV for the Kings but Jackman has already ruled out sweeping changes to the matchday squad.

The heat is on to win in the league for the first time since September 30, 2017 when the Kings last visited Newport but Hill stresses that the pressure only comes from their poor Benetton performance.

"One game in we don't have a monkey on our back, we just had a bad day at the office that we want to put right," he said.

"We are a different side to last season with a lot of new recruits, coaches and backroom staff. We are in a totally different place."