GRUFF Dean Ryan has been swapped for positive Dai Flanagan but the Dragons’ encouraging start to the season is down to hard work and detail rather than simply playing with smiles on faces.
There is an upbeat mood at Rodney Parade after the first block of the United Rugby Championship, which has featured more wins than the entire nightmare 2021/22.
Ticket sales are going exceptionally well for the Boxing Day derby against Cardiff thanks to the feelgood factor from impressive performances on home soil.
The campaign started with a shocker in Edinburgh which led to the sacking of director of rugby Ryan, although his departure is yet to be rubber-stamped. His mugshot remains in place on the club website and he could technically still claim his win ratio is going up.
Ryan wasn’t getting a tune out of a talented Dragons squad but head coach Flanagan has got an immediate response after taking the reins.
They have beaten Munster, the Ospreys and Zebre at Rodney Parade, should have beaten the Sharks, could easily have turned over Cardiff and gave Benetton a wobble in Treviso.
The Dragons have been aggressive, physical and enterprising to into the autumn break 10th in the table and ahead of the Ospreys and Scarlets, with Cardiff two points ahead.
While it would be nice to target an unlikely Welsh Shield triumph this season, avoiding another wooden spoon by staying above one rival must be the target.
Flanagan won’t be getting carried away and will no doubt stress to the squad that it is just a start when they return from a well-earned week off. Tough tests lie ahead with a draining South African trip, Pau and then festive derbies.
But the minimum requirement from this first block was two wins after last season’s horrors and the Dragons have bettered that.
It was encouraging that they didn’t let standards slip against an admittedly shocking Zebre on Saturday and the themes of the season continued even without their Test contingent.
Who has been the star of the first block? Wales squad members Will Rowlands, Bradley Roberts or Rio Dyer?
I’d put props Aki Seiuli and Lloyd Fairbrother into the mix along with full-back Angus O’Brien.
Ryan often rightly pointed out that the drop-off in quality was too big when Test big beasts were missing through international duty or injury.
That hasn’t been the case this season with the former boss’ recruitment proving to be shrewd with unheralded players stepping up to provide genuine selection headaches.
Wales loosehead Rhodri Jones missed the start of the season with a calf strain but Seiuli has produced the goods in the tight and the loose to rightly be ahead of Rob Evans in the pecking order.
Wales tighthead Leon Brown is still absent because of a shoulder injury but dependable, durable Fairbrother has locked down the scrum and made himself a nuisance around the park.
Stand-out summer signing Sio Tomkinson started explosively but suffered a stinger only for fellow new recruit Steff Hughes to shine in midfield.
Sean Lonsdale looks to be the business whether at lock or blindside, wonderfully unflashy and just getting his job done as you’d expect from a former Exeter forward.
O’Brien has come back to the Dragons from the Scarlets with his footballing abilities intact but more solid and sound, a 10/15 turned into a 15/10 that just does the right things (let’s gloss over the Sharks interception…).
The list could go on.
The Dragons haven’t started the season well by playing fast and loose to avoid confrontations, they have made huge strides in the power game and got the fundamentals spot-on.
They have been strong at the scrum, they have mauled well and possess one of the best defensive lineouts in the URC.
Aggression and intensity helps but the devil is in the detail, and the same applies in defence where attitude and passion needs to be married with knowledge of roles.
By and large, the Dragons have played in the right areas and their discipline has been excellent at home, poor away.
Their performances have restored the connection with the Parade faithful but that isn’t just done by ‘playing for the badge’ and caring a lot.
The Dragons players have never lacked endeavour on home soil but they’ve been killed by the error count, a faltering set piece or going off script.
That hasn’t happened so far this season, they looked well-drilled thanks to hard work in Ystrad Mynach and are enjoying themselves within a structure.
Twice they have had six-day turnarounds and on both occasions they have backed up big displays to put themselves in a commanding position against the Sharks and blow away Zebre.
Of course that comes from digging deep but it also comes from thinking clearly and sticking to the plan, brains and brawn.
The Dragons squad have given themselves a real shot at having the best campaign since the Lyn Jones era or the first of Ryan’s seasons in charge.
There will be challenges ahead and they remain vulnerable to injury because of their squad size, but the foundations are solid.
This season has been very un-Dragonsy, and long may it continue.
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