DRAGONS boss Bernard Jackman says he will become more “hands-on” at Rodney Parade after axing coach Hendre Marnitz and taking over responsibility for the defence.

The South African, who was appointed in the summer of 2017, was relieved of his duties this week after the region’s torrid start to the season.

The Dragons leaked 94 tries in 21 PRO14 games last year and, despite a big summer recruitment drive, the trend has continued with their line crossed 33 times in eight encounters.

Every side that hosted them in the league in 2017/18 won with a bonus point and that streak has continued at Leinster, Glasgow, Ulster and Connacht.

The pressure is mounting on Jackman and the head coach has sacked Marnitz and decided to get more involved on the training paddock.

“It was a really tough decision but we want to turn the Dragons into a winning team,” said Jackman.

“We made plenty of hard calls last year to try and get the Dragons more competitive and we will have to continue to make those, whether that’s team selections or contracts for players and staff.

“We obviously need to improve our defence – we have conceded 33 (league) tries so far this season and that is an area that is the biggest area of concern and one that we haven’t seen consistency in.

“We definitely needed to make a change and make things better. I am going to take control of it and I want to be more hands-on now.

“There has been a huge amount of work over the last 16 months which hasn’t been on the field – recruitment, retention and filling in spots in the support staff that we haven’t had before.

“That’s in place now and we have a young squad that we need to get playing to the best of their ability.

“I am looking forward to being hands-on and making them better. As head coach I have to take responsibility for it, we have made a change and now we need to make it better.”

Jackman will be in charge of the defence until at least the end of this season, resuming a role that he held in Grenoble.

“I started off as a defence coach when I went to France initially and I am certainly passionate about it,” said the former Ireland and Leinster hooker.

“There are areas that we can improve and we have started that process this week because we have got to build robust systems.

“Unfortunately we have been conceding tries very easily and teams know if they go through their sets and keep the ball against us then we will make system errors that result in missed tackles and line breaks.

“If you look at why we are missing tackles, we haven’t had enough clarity around our systems. We changed the system on Monday and are working hard in terms of how we drill that and how we review that to make sure people defend as a unit rather than as individuals.

“Once we get that right our defence will improve quickly, but it’s a rush now to get that ready for Edinburgh.

“It’s important that everything is aligned and consistent and the boys have bought into it. There has been really good energy and we are getting everybody on the same page.”

South Wales Argus:

The Dragons’ defensive woes led to them chasing Shaun Edwards last summer only for the rugby league legend to instead take up a consultant role exclusively with the Ospreys.

That in turn led to Warren Gatland holding some sessions in Ystrad Mynach at the start of October and Jackman will be inspired by the national team.

“Look at Wales against Australia, defensively they are as good as anyone in the world,” he said.

“Welsh players are physical and like to get off the line, taking space and time away. We are not looking to be passive, that’s for sure.

“But we have to be aggressive as a team, defending in threes and together. We are trying to cut out a lot of the individual decision-making and make it collective.”